Suzuki is struggling to find customers for the Baleno in Colombia. What are you doing then? Exactly, makes it a Cross version.
At the end of last year it became clear that Suzuki no longer sees any salvation in the Baleno in the Netherlands. The five-door hatchback was cut out of the Dutch model range, but elsewhere in the world it can still go on cheerfully. The fairly down-to-earth hatchback manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India was recently facelifted and now that updated Baleno has also hit the Colombian market. He returns to the Colombian car market as Baleno Cross.
Don’t be fooled by the new model name with the addition ‘Cross’. From the outside, the differences with the regular Baleno are very small. The Baleno Cross has black window frames instead of aluminum-colored ones, but without cross versions it has to do with characteristic features such as plastic wheel arch edges. Instead, the Baleno Cross gets hard plastic mud flaps on both the front and rear wheels. The Baleno is not a direct rival for the Stepway version of the Renault Sandero. In contrast to such a Stepway version, the Baleno Cross is not higher on its legs. Under the hood is a 91 hp 1.4, a machine that is available with a manual five-speed gearbox, but which also has a four-speed automatic transmission.
The Suzuki Baleno is not a pot breaker in Colombia. Last year, Suzuki sold roughly 700 copies, a number that is completely overshadowed by the 20,000 copies that Renault sells of the Sandero and Sandero Stepway. The standard Baleno Cross fitted with roof racks has a starting price of € 11,136 in Colombia.