It’s a tactic as old as time – load up your affordable offering with plenty of premium features to make your car more attractive to buyers.
If Suzuki’s sales figures are anything to go by, it’s a tactic that’s paying dividends for the Japanese manufacturer.
I recently spent a week of school runs and a few weekend outings in the top-specced Suzuki Baleno 1.5 GLX, and was left suitably impressed.
@lancethewit10 Things I love and hate about the @Suzuki.oficial Baleno GLX #cars #carreview #review #Suzuki #Baleno #motoring #carsoftiktok #fyp @IOLNEWS 📹: @lisa charles ♬ original sound - Lance Witten450
The 1500 motor is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox and is an absolute pleasure to drive. It’s possibly the easiest car to drive, once you’re used to the really long clutch draw that takes a while to get to biting point.
And it’s frugal too. I’m known to have a heavy right foot, and I returned an average of 6.1 litres per 100km. You’ll realistically get about 480km from a full tank.
But it’s in the vehicle’s practicality that Suzuki really shines. The seats are comfy, if a little soft; there’s plenty of leg room in the back, although taller passengers might struggle with head and shoulder room.
But that’s not what it’s for, really. Most Baleno buyers will either be motorists scaling down or young families, and for that, it’s perfect.
The boot is spacious and deep, there are aircon vents and two charging ports servicing the back seat, storage bins and nooks aplenty up front, and dark upholstery for those inevitable juice box mishaps.
There’s also tech in this car that wouldn’t be out of place in cars three to four times its price.
On the GLX model you get a nifty and responsive touchscreen, customisable heads-up display, and a customisable display between the rev counter and speedometer that shows you everything from G-Force distribution to brake acceleration vectors, fuel economy or you can just have a big analogue clock.
Cameras placed in the bootlid, side-view mirrors and in the grille co-ordinate for a full 360° birds-eye view. The front camera also activates at low speeds so you don’t go bending that fender in the parking lot or scraping your alloys on the kerb. The 360° camera set-up is truly something else, with great resolution, helping you get into – and out of the tightest of spots.
And the best part? Only the Baleno 1.5 GLX auto is priced over R300k (as at March, 2023). Even the top-specced GLX manual I drove with all the bells and whistles came in at under R300k.
How does Suzuki manage this? Well, one of the downsides is there are hard plastics aplenty throughout the cabin, and the doors won’t give you that solid, heavy, reassuring thud when you close them. The car does feel a little light, but remains sure-footed through the bends. There are softer-touch materials where it matters though – the centre armrest is a soft leatherette, and you’ll find contrast-colour leatherette in the door panel and armrest where you are likely to encounter contact while driving.
But consider this car’s selling price and then measure it against Suzuki’s awesome warranty and maintenance plan (better than the equivalent and similarly-priced Toyota Starlet re-badge), and you’ll quickly come to realise that the Baleno 1.5 GLX is truly South Africa’s budget hatch champion.