Suzuki YRA Hatchback to be Christened Baleno?

It is perhaps the worst-kept secret that Maruti is preparing to bring a new premium hatchback to the Indian market to rival the recently launched Hyundai Elite i20 and the upcoming Honda Jazz.

Suzuki YRA hatchback has been in the spotlight for quite a while now and the car was caught on camera while testing numerous times in India as well as in Europe. Now the latest interesting titbit on YRA comes from WorldcarFans via Autoexpress.co.uk, which reveals that the next premium hatchback of the company is likely to be monikered as Baleno.

The YRA hatchback is expected to slot above the Swift hatchback and will weigh 90 kg less. Though the key details of the new model are kept under wraps, the rumour mills have spat few details.

Going by this, the India specific model of YRA is likely to get power from 1.2 litre petrol and 1.3 litre diesel engines, the same as in Swift and inside the cabin, the car is likely to host premium features.

The model is expected to make its global debut in March 2015 at the Geneva Motor Show and is likely to reach Indian shores by 2016.

The report also adds that in next three years, Suzuki, the Japanese auto-maker will be launching six models with two new cars each in A, B and C segments.

The Celerio and new Vitara models will be the first to reach showrooms, followed by YRA and a new generation Swift. Apparently, there is also a Celerio sister model in the pipeline and also a likely replacement of Jimny.