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Kia Cerato vs Suzuki Baleno

What's the difference?

VS
Kia Cerato
Kia Cerato

$20,990 - $39,999

2022 price

Suzuki Baleno
Suzuki Baleno

$14,965 - $21,990

2020 price

Summary

2022 Kia Cerato
2020 Suzuki Baleno
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 4, 1.6L

Inline 4, 1.4L
Fuel Type
Unleaded Petrol

Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
6.9L/100km (combined)

5.1L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Harsh ride quality
  • Unrefined, noisy cabin
  • Ageing interior design

  • Expensive servicing
  • Cheap interior
  • Dull
2022 Kia Cerato Summary

Three years after the fourth-generation Cerato small car rolled into Australian dealerships, Kia launched a mid-life facelift for the sedan and hatch range in mid-2021.

It ushered in styling tweaks including new headlights and Kia’s new logo, as well as more safety tech and a multimedia upgrade.

At the top of the range sits the warmed-up Cerato GT. It’s not quite Hyundai i30 N-level performance, more i30 N-Line. In other words, more than enough performance to keep most people satisfied and enough poke to get away quickly at the lights.

But is the updated version of Kia’s Cerato trying to be something it’s not, or is it a performance bargain?

Read on to find out.

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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 Kia Cerato 2020 Suzuki Baleno

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