Maruti Suzuki has been shipping the Baleno
mild-hybrid to overseas markets since 2016, and now, it is readying it for the
domestic market. While the export markets get it with an ‘SHVS’ badge on the
tailgate, the domestic market will get it with a ‘Smart Hybrid’ badge on the
tailgate.
Maruti Suzuki planning to start offering its Smart
Hybrid mild-hybrid system in the Baleno comes as no surprise, as we know that
the Fiat-developed D13A 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engine is set to get discontinued
by March 2020. Customers requiring a higher fuel efficiency than that of the
most economical petrol engine model (21.4 km/l) will be the target for the
Smart Hybrid variant.
The Smart Hybrid mild-hybrid system will lead to a
higher fuel economy in the petrol engine model, although a rating as good as
the diesel engine model (27.39 km/l) is unlikely. In export markets, the Smart
Hybrid mild-hybrid system is available with the K12C 1.2-litre petrol engine
and even the K10C 1.0-litre petrol engine.
In India, the petrol engine options include the K12M
1.2-litre unit that returns 21.4 km/l and the K10C 1.0-litre unit that delivers
21.1 km/l. The more powerful and torquier K10C engine is only slightly less
economical, but it’s much costlier because it’s imported, from Japan. So,
Maruti Suzuki may offer the Smart Hybrid mild-hybrid system with the K12M
engine instead.
Maruti Suzuki has two different Smart Hybrid
systems, an older, single-battery one, called ‘Proven’, and a newer,
dual-battery one, called ‘Progressive’. Which of the two it plans to offer in
the Baleno is unknown. There's no word on the launch timeline either.
