The 2020 Baleno was not tested as part of the ANCAP program, but without standard autonomous emergency braking (AEB) which some of its competitors now have as standard, it possibly wouldn’t have been a safety front-runner anyway. That’s not to say it’s an unsafe car, simply that AEB is a proven life-saver and it’s a shame the Baleno didn’t have it.

Meantime, while it wasn’t crash-tested locally, the Baleno was crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2018. A relatively poor result in the pole-crash test saw the Baleno emerge with just three safety stars out of five.

The Baleno sold in Australia was fitted with six air-bags in total. That was made up of two front bags, two front-side bags and two full-length curtain air-bags that protected those in the rear seat as well. But it missed out on other safety tech including autonomous emergency braking and lane-keep assistance.

The Baleno wasn’t crash-tested locally, but it was tested by Euro NCAP and didn’t perform too well. Combined with that lack of active safety gear was a relatively poor chest-protection rating in the pole-impact test, leaving the Suzuki with a safety score of just three stars.

There is nothing to suggest that the 2019 Baleno has anything to be concerned about, but it is very early in its life, so it’s impossible to be certain about what could happen down the track.