Australia's final Suzuki Baleno city cars are on their way to showrooms, in the form of a batch of black-trimmed Shadow special editions.
The 2022 Suzuki Baleno will bow out of Australian showrooms in the coming months with a Shadow special edition, priced from $26,890 drive-away.
On sale now, the Baleno Shadow adds a selection of black styling tweaks, including a body kit (with bumper and side skirt add-ons), a black grille, black stickers on the doors, a Shadow badge on the tailgate, and 16-inch black alloy wheels.
The Shadow will be the final new Suzuki Baleno variant introduced locally, as the popular city car will be discontinued over the coming months – and a heavily-updated model by Suzuki in India will not be sold in Australian showrooms.
Suzuki Australia (the distributor for all regions except Queensland) will offer 300 examples of the Shadow edition, priced from $26,890 drive-away – a not-insignificant $5900 more than the GL automatic variant on which it is based.
The Shadow edition costs $3400 more than the previous top-of-the-range model, the GLX – but as it is based on the entry-level GL, the Shadow misses out on GLX-exclusive features such as LED headlights, rear disc brakes, keyless entry and start, and automatic climate control.
Arctic White (included in the base price) and Premium Silver Metallic ($595 extra) are the only colours available for the Baleno Shadow – with Fire Red (no cost), Stargaze Blue Metallic ($595) and Granite Grey Metallic ($595) exclusive to the GL and GLX.
The Baleno Shadow is due to be followed an Ignis Shadow by the end of this year, with similar body add-ons, wheels, decals and other black styling tweaks to the new Baleno variant.
Next year, Shadow versions of the Swift city car, and Vitara and S-Cross SUVs are expected to follow. Drive understands the Shadow variants will eventually become permanent fixtures of the Suzuki model range, for all models except the popular Jimny off-roader.
MORE: 2022 Suzuki Baleno Shadow Edition coming soon, more special editions to follow
Standard features and prices are otherwise unchanged across the rest of the Suzuki Baleno line-up, which opens with the five-speed manual GL, priced from $19,990 drive-away.
Included with the base model are items such as a 9.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and a reversing camera, a leather steering wheel, fabric upholstery, power door mirrors, 15-inch steel wheels, and dusk-sensing halogen headlights.
While six airbags and the basic new vehicle safety aids – anti-lock brakes and traction/stability control (as mandated by the Federal Government) – are standard, the Baleno lacks any form of advanced safety technologies, as fitted to the smaller Swift.
These include autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise control. The Suzuki Baleno and MG 3 are some of the last new cars on sale not available with these features, even on higher grades.
Opting for the automatic-only GLX flagship model ($23,490 drive-away) adds LED headlights, rear disc brakes, keyless entry and start, automatic climate control, chrome door handles, 16-inch two-tone alloy wheels, and more.
All Baleno variants are powered by a 1.4-litre non-turbo four-cylinder petrol engine developing 68kW and 130Nm, sent to the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission as standard in the entry-level GL, or a four-speed automatic as an option in the GL, or standard on other grades.
Suzuki claims a fuel consumption rating in combined (urban and highway mix) driving of 5.1 litres per 100km for the manual, or 5.4L/100km for the automatic.
The 2022 Suzuki Baleno – including the Shadow special edition – is on sale now.
Note: All prices above are drive-away.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines as a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.
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Copyright Drive.com.au 2022ABN: 84 116 608 158
Copyright Drive.com.au 2022ABN: 84 116 608 158
DAP Pricing– Unless otherwise stated, all prices are shown as Manufacturer's Recommended List Price (MRLP) inclusive of GST, exclusive of options and on road costs.