The Maruti Suzuki Baleno is not only the most popular premium hatchback but also one of the hottest selling cars in India. For long, Maruti has been criticized regarding its safety scores and they have finally made the Baleno go through the Bharat NCAP safety crash tests and it has come out with a respectable 4-star rating.

The hatchback score a total score of 24.04 out of 32 for adult occupant safety rating and 34.81 out of 49 points for child occupant safety rating. Now the tests were conducted on two variants, the base variant, which does not have the side and curtain airbags faired comparatively poorer on the side impact crash test.

The vehicle assessment score was 6/13, CRS installation score was 12/12 and the the dynamic score was 16.81/24. Funnily enough, the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, which is placed lower in the lineup and also is cheaper gained a better score than the Baleno which is supposed to be their premium offering.

The Baleno is available with 6-airbags only in the top end variant but features like ABS with EBD and stability control comes standard across all the variants. The Baleno comes with only one engine option which is the 1.2L NA petrol K-series engine which can either be paired to a 5-speed manual or an AMT.