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Volkswagen Polo vs Suzuki Baleno

What's the difference?

VS
Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo

$21,990 - $34,888

2022 price

Suzuki Baleno
Suzuki Baleno

$10,750 - $18,990

2020 price

Summary

2022 Volkswagen Polo
2020 Suzuki Baleno
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 4, 2.0L

Inline 4, 1.4L
Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
6.5L/100km (combined)

5.1L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Solid service pricing
  • No rear centre armrest
  • No adjustable rear air vents

  • Expensive servicing
  • Cheap interior
  • Dull
2022 Volkswagen Polo Summary

The hot hatch wars, an on-going automotive conflict, fired up when Volkswagen lobbed a massive, Golf GTI-shaped salvo into an unsuspecting global car market in the middle of 1976.

Peugeot may have run a bold out-flanking manoeuvre with deployment of the 205GTi from the mid-1980s, and other skirmishes broke out soon after with the likes of Suzuki’s Swift GTi, but so far the German maker has retained majority ownership of those three little letters that mean so much.

Fast forward to 1995 and application of the GTI tag spread to the compact VW Polo, which close to three decades later brings us to the current, sixth-generation version.

It arrived in Australia in 2018, and four years down the track it’s time for an update, with subtle cosmetic tweaks and a significant safety upgrade included.

Volkswagen Australia invited us to the car’s local launch including a varied drive program, topped off with a hot-lap track session, to get a first taste of how it shapes up.

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2020 Suzuki Baleno Summary

The fact of the Suzuki Baleno's existence is one of the more puzzling features on the automotive landscape. It's a car that pits itself against all manner of worthy competition - some of it exceedingly so - in the small hatch segment.

People still buy what the industry calls light cars (in ever-diminishing numbers) so perhaps Suzuki thought offering two would be a good idea, as its Swift occupies the same patch of sales ground in this city-sized segment.

In this part of the market, you've really, really got to want it. You need to be stylish, sophisticated and packed with tons of safety gear if you've any hope of so much as laying a fingernail on the Mazda2. Or, let's face it, be dirt cheap to counter Yaris and (the soon to depart) Accent.

It's all the more puzzling because Suzuki does interesting cars like the Jimny, Swift, Vitara and Ignis. And the oddball S-Cross (RIP).

The Baleno seems far too tame, timid and, well, blergh. But according to VFacts, Suzuki shifts at least a hundred of these per month, sometimes over 200.

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Deep dive comparison

2022 Volkswagen Polo 2020 Suzuki Baleno

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