On Thursday, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) forayed into the premium hatchback segment with the launch of the Glanza. A first-of-its-kind car in India, the Glanza is a rebadged version of Maruti Suzuki Baleno—the first model exchanged under the global collaboration between Toyota Motor and Suzuki Motor.
The two cars share a lot of similarities, but there are subtle differences, too. For one, the Glanza is not available in as many variants as the Baleno, and there is no diesel engine option in the former.
Design: Both the Glanza and Baleno are the biggest premium hatchback cars in India (slightly bigger than Hyundai Elite i20, Honda Jazz and Volkswagen Polo) and also the lightest. The Glanza weighs 890-935kg and the Baleno 865-935kg (the other three weigh over a tonne). While both look the same save for badging—even the alloy wheel design is similar—the Glanza gets a two-slat chrome grille while the Baleno’s grille has a 3D graphic design.
Cabin: It’s exactly the same in both the cars; the only differences are badging and the fact that Toyota calls its infotainment system Smart Playcast while Maruti calls its Smartplay Studio.
Engines: The Glanza doesn’t have a diesel engine option (the Baleno has the DDiS 190 diesel engine based on Fiat’s 1.3-litre MultiJet engine). Also, while the Glanza shares the petrol engine with the Baleno—the 1197cc in two versions; one is a Smart Hybrid—the Baleno petrol is being offered in as many as nine variants, and the Glanza just four. So, the choices are limited. Because the technical specifications are the same, both cars are equally fuel-efficient (23.87kpl of the Smart Hybrid; 21.01kpl of the manual; and 19.56kpl of the CVT automatic).
If you do find that the ex-showroom starting price of the Glanza is more than the Baleno’s, it’s only because the former isn’t being offered in a bare-bones variant. Trim-to-trim, there’s absolutely no difference in prices. Yet the Glanza comes across as a better buy because it’s being offered with a standard 3-year/1-lakh-km warranty, while the Baleno comes with a 2-year/40,000-km warranty.
PS: The Baleno is also available in a hot hatch format, but the Glanza isn’t. Powered by Suzuki’s 998cc Boosterjet direct injection turbocharged engine, the Baleno RS can accelerate from 0-100kph in a little over 10 seconds, and has a top speed of 180kph.
