carandbike Awards 2023: Compact Car Of The Year – Maruti Suzuki Baleno

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno has won the Compact Car Of The Year award hosted by Car&Bike. Other nominees for the award included the Citroen C3, Maruti Suzuki Brezza and the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10. The runner up for the award was the Maruti Suzuki Brezza which only lost out marginally to the winner. Two categories in which the Baleno scored well included Significance to segment and Occupant environment.

Also Read: Review: 2023 Maruti Suzuki Fronx

The current generation of the Baleno was launched in February, 2022. The car is designed according to the Maruti Suzuki’s “Crafter Futurism” design language. The interior of the car is finished in all black and gets a 9-inch Smartplay Pro plus infotainment system for the centre console compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Features like auto climate control, keyless entry and rear defogger are available as standard in the car. 

The Baleno is powered by a 1.2 litre petrol engine that makes 88 bhp @ 6000 rpm and provides a peak Torque of 113 Nm @ 4,400 rpm. The engine can be mated to a manual or AMT gearbox depending on the customer’s preference. In our review, we noted the car’s strong mid-range and the fact that the manual was fun to drive as a result of the light clutch and the short clutch travel. The other impressive thing about the car is its fuel efficiency figures which amounts to about 22 kmpl on this manual.