The new Maruti Baleno Sigma enters with a price little harder to ignore. Get new Maruti Premium Hatchback at roughly ₹6 lakh ex-showroom powered with 3-cylinder petrol engine, 6-airbags for safety, and electronic stability control in lower trims. However, touchscreen, alloy wheels, and a few other features buyers will not get into this car.
Most car buyers can get confused whether the deal is good or just another car into the market. It’s the biggest start of evolution in facelifts brand new engine without touching the price marker.
The new Maruti Baleno base Sigma variant has quietly become the most talked-about trim in the lineup, not because it’s loaded, but because of what Maruti chose to cut and what it chose to keep.
What New Maruti Baleno Base Sigma Variant Offers
Maruti updates its engine with Z12E, a 3-cylinder from old 1.2-litre K12N 4-cylinder engine in Sigma paired with a 5-speed manual, no automatic. Sigma offers a power of 83 PS and 112.4 Nm of torque which is lower by about 7 PS and 1 Nm than the outgoing engine. But this new Maruti Premium Hatchback claimed 23.8 kmpl on the ARAI cycle, more mileage of around 1.45 kmpl.
Buyers who are used to the smoother 4-cylinder engine can be comfortable with 3-cylinder setup. The reviews are mixed on refinement from the owners, so leave this experience on your test drive rather than a specs sheet.
New Maruti Baleno Base Sigma Variant: Price and Features
Maruti announced the new Baleno Base Sigma Variant on September 5, 2026 at a starting price of ₹6.10 lakh (ex-showroom). After a few days, the price of the New Maruti Premium Hatchback falls to ₹5.98 lakh, which is ₹11,000 cheaper than the launch-day figure.
This is not a second price cut, this is a routine post-launch correction so check out and book your new facelift on the live Nexa website or a dealer.
For that money, the Sigma gets:
| Feature | Specification |
| Engine | 1.2L Z12E petrol |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual only (no AMT; CNG not available — CNG starts from Delta variant onwards) |
| Wheels & Lighting | 15-inch steel wheels with covers; LED C-shaped lamps; halogen projector headlamps |
| Exterior Styling | Simple matte-black grille and bumper; black ORVMs and door handles; body-colored A & B pillars |
| Interior Theme | Blue-and-grey dual-tone cabin with aluminium-finish dashboard inserts |
| Seats & Instrumentation | Fabric seats; analogue instrument cluster with small MID |
| Safety Features | 6 airbags; ABS with EBD; Electronic Stability Control (ESC); Hill-Hold Assist; ISOFIX child-seat mounts; reverse parking sensors |
| Convenience | All-four power windows with driver-side auto up/down and anti-pinch |
| Fuel Tank Capacity | 37 litres |
| Boot Space | 318 litres (family-friendly luggage capacity) |
That safety kit is the genuine surprise. Six airbags and ESC on a sub-₹6-lakh hatchback wasn’t standard even two years ago, and it’s the strongest argument for buying the Sigma instead of stretching to a mid-trim on a different brand.
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What You Don’t Get in New Maruti Premium Hatchback
No fog lamps despite bumper cutouts for them, no touchscreen infotainment, no alloy wheels, and no tyre pressure monitoring system, which only appears from higher trims.
If you road-trip often or care about resale shine, the jump to the Delta trim is where CNG and a few creature comforts start appearing — but that pushes the price meaningfully higher, so it’s a separate buying decision, not a rounding error.
Baleno Sigma vs Hyundai i20 Era vs Tata Altroz Smart
The Sigma doesn’t have the entry-price hatchback space to itself. Hyundai reintroduced its own stripped-down i20 Era variant earlier in 2026 at ₹5.99 lakh, and Tata’s Altroz Smart trim floats between ₹6.00 lakh and ₹6.30 lakh depending on ongoing GST-linked offers — so treat that Altroz figure as approximate until you check a live quote.
| Baleno Sigma | Hyundai i20 Era | Tata Altroz Smart | |
| Price (ex-showroom) | ₹5.98–5.99 lakh | ₹5.99 lakh | ~₹6.00–6.30 lakh |
| Engine | 1.2L, 3-cyl, 83 PS/112.4 Nm | 1.2L Kappa, 4-cyl, 83 PS/114.7 Nm | 1.2L petrol, ~87 bhp |
| Mileage (ARAI) | 23.8 kmpl | ~19 kmpl | 19.3 kmpl |
| Wheels | 15″ steel + covers | 14″ wheel covers, no alloys | Steel, base trim |
| Standout | 6 airbags + ESC standard | Proven 4-cylinder smoothness | 5-star Global NCAP heritage (older gen) |
The Baleno’s mileage claim is the clearest number on this table, and if fuel spend is your main filter, it’s a meaningful gap over both rivals.
The i20 counters with a four-cylinder engine that’s still, by most driver accounts, smoother at idle and under load — a genuine reason some buyers will pay the same money for less claimed efficiency.
The Altroz’s pricing is the least stable of the three right now because of festival-season offers. So before signing anything, compare the actual pricing from 2-3 dealers.
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Should You Buy This New Maruti Premium Hatchback?
If your budget is hard-stops under ₹6 lakh and you drive mostly in the city, yes — the safety kit alone (six airbags, ESC, hill-hold) makes the Sigma a stronger buy than most base-trim hatchbacks have ever been at this price, three-cylinder concerns aside.
Sigma’s features that make a hatchback feel modern day-to-day start one trim up, not at the bottom of the range. So the new Maruti Baleno base Sigma variant is the best choice for you right now.
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Conclusion
The new Maruti Baleno Sigma enters with a new variant without changing its value proposition with new engine. It still offers what buyers need on Indian roads and cuts off what can be compromised. The other features like display, automatic gear are not found in this car.
But at the price of ₹6 lakh, the new Maruti Premium Hatchback offers a great mileage up to 23.8 kmpl and safety kit. That makes it the genuine option for buyers who want straightforward and efficient city cars. If you want the lowest possible price, this Sigma is worth a serious look.
