What's all this about?
The Suzuki Baleno is making a comeback. We're waiting with bated breath to see if Daihatsu will also revive the Applause...
Good luck with that one. What's the new Baleno like?
It's a development of the iK-2 Concept Suzuki showed in Geneva earlier this year and it's a traditional five-door compact hatchback. Suzuki claims it has a lot of weight-saving tech in it. And it's fitted with a BoosterJet.
A what?!
In one of the most brilliantly silly bits of automotive branding we've yet seen, BoosterJet is Suzuki's name for the new 1.0-litre, direct injection turbocharged petrol engine (presumably a three-cylinder jobbie) hiding under the bonnet. And not, regrettably, a socking great gas engine at the back, which can be employed to briefly raise the Baleno's power output to something like 1,000hp.
Oh, shame. Can I presume the Baleno will be at Frankfurt?
You can. It's likely to be launched in the UK in early summer 2016 and if you simply can't wait to find out more about the Baleno (Suzuki steered clear of going for the old, alternative names of Cultus Crescent or Esteem), then go here for a special Baleno website.
Matt Robinson - 7 Aug 2015
