Named after a sporty icon, but does it have the same pedigree?

The baleno was initially sold as a premium sedan combatting the likes of the Honda City et al. Now it's sold as a premium hatchback pitted against the Fiat Punto, VW Polo etc. One the main selling point for me was the experience I had at Nexa. The staff is courteous and the facilities are maintained and cleaned regularly. The same cannot be said about its counterparts though. Being sold in 4 trims helped me select the right one for myself where i didn't have to spend extra money for features i will never require in the future. The whole purchase process went smoothly and we were told to wait for 6 weeks for the delivery. Luckily the car came home before the third week even finished. The older Baleno was known for its comfort and performance capabilities. Talking about confort, the new one holds its predecessor's reputation. The back seats have ample of legroom, headroom and shoulder room. Even in the front there's oodles of space to stretch your legs. This is missing in most of its rivals. The performance of the car is a big let down. Sure it makes decent amount of power, 82bhp and 115NM, but it feels extremely lacklustre. The rev band, however linear, feels extremely elastic even with the manual transmission. There's an insane amount of body roll in the corners and you can feel the chassis flexing under hard cornering. Neither do the brakes inspire confidence nor do the tyres do adequate job of sticking to the road. It's apparent that this generation of the Baleno was designed with comfort in it's mind and it excels at it. The previous generation wasn't much of a looker as it had a generic design language. This new one, on the other hand, is a stunner. There's hardly any straight lines in the design and all curves blend in smoothly with each other. The window line starts close to the wheel arches and gradually moves up giving it a sloping roof effect without compromising on the space inside. Being a Maruti Suzuki, servicing is a breeze and especially light on the pockets. Parts are inexpensive and readily available in every corner of the country. Every car sold is never perfect. So is the case with the Baleno. While the high window line adds to the aesthetic appeal, it hinders the outside visibility for rear passengers and increases the blind spots for the driver. The biggest problem with the car isn't specific to it but pertains to the whole brand. It is the horrendous build quality which is undertaken under the umbrella of cost cutting measures. The body panels are so flimsy that a slight push from even a finger might dent it.