2026 Maruti Baleno Mileage Revealed – Now Delivers Up To 24.77 km/l Petrol & 33.61 km/kg CNG

The recently launched 2026 Maruti Suzuki Baleno facelift is not just about cosmetic and feature upgrades. One of the more important changes for Indian buyers is under the bonnet, where Maruti Suzuki has switched to its newer 1.2-litre Z12E three-cylinder petrol engine.

And the change has brought a noticeable improvement in fuel efficiency. The new Baleno now delivers a claimed mileage of up to 24.77 km/l with petrol and 33.61 km/kg with CNG, making the premium hatchback considerably more economical than the outgoing version.

2026 Maruti Baleno Mileage

Figures are manufacturer/ARAI claimed.

In percentage terms, the new Baleno petrol manual is roughly 6.5% more fuel efficient, while the petrol AMT improves by almost 8%. The biggest improvement is seen in the Baleno CNG, where claimed efficiency has increased by nearly 9.8%.

New Baleno AMT Is More Efficient Than Manual

An interesting aspect of the new Baleno is that the AMT version actually has a higher claimed mileage than the manual.

The petrol manual delivers:

23.80 km/l

while the petrol AMT delivers:

24.77 km/l

That's a difference of almost 1 km/l in favour of the automatic.

This could make the Baleno AMT particularly attractive to urban buyers who want the convenience of an automatic transmission without paying a fuel-efficiency penalty. In fact, the opposite is true here — the AMT is officially the more fuel-efficient petrol Baleno.

Why Has Baleno Mileage Improved?

The biggest reason is Maruti Suzuki's new Z12E engine. The outgoing Baleno used the company's 1.2-litre K12N four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine.

The 2026 Baleno replaces it with the newer:

1.2-litre Z12E

• 3-cylinder

• Naturally aspirated petrol

• 5-speed manual

• 5-speed AMT

This engine is already used in newer Maruti Suzuki models such as the Swift and Dzire and has been engineered with fuel efficiency as one of its main priorities.

Mileage Improves Despite Higher Kerb Weight

What makes the efficiency improvement more interesting is that the new Baleno has actually become slightly heavier. The maximum kerb weight of the petrol manual is now around 985 kg, approximately 30 kg higher than before, while the petrol AMT goes up to around 990 kg. The Baleno CNG weighs up to approximately 1,055 kg, around 20 kg more than its predecessor.

Despite the additional weight, the new engine manages to deliver significantly better claimed fuel economy. This indicates that much of the improvement comes from optimisation of the powertrain rather than simply reducing vehicle weight.

There Is A Trade-Off – Power Has Reduced

Better fuel efficiency, however, comes with a small compromise.

The older Baleno's four-cylinder petrol engine produced around:

90 hp and 113 Nm

The new three-cylinder engine produces approximately:

83 hp and 112 Nm

So peak petrol power has dropped by around 7 hp, although torque is almost unchanged.

Petrol Engine Comparison

For buyers primarily using the Baleno for everyday commuting, Maruti Suzuki appears to have prioritised lower fuel consumption over outright power.

Baleno CNG Gets The Biggest Mileage Gain

The CNG version arguably benefits most from the powertrain update.

Claimed mileage has increased from:

30.61 km/kg → 33.61 km/kg

That's an improvement of 3 km/kg, or almost 10%. The CNG version produces around 70 hp and 102 Nm. Interestingly, while power is lower than before, CNG torque has actually increased compared with the previous version. For buyers clocking substantial monthly kilometres, the improved CNG economy could further reduce running costs.

New Baleno Petrol vs CNG

How Significant Is The Mileage Improvement?

The improvement may appear small when looking only at kilometres per litre, but over long-term ownership it can become meaningful. For example, the outgoing petrol manual required approximately 447 litres of petrol to cover 10,000 km based purely on its claimed 22.35 km/l figure.

At 23.80 km/l, the new model would require around 420 litres. That's roughly 27 litres less petrol every 10,000 km under comparable claimed-efficiency calculations. For the AMT, the saving works out to around 32 litres per 10,000 km compared with the outgoing model. Actual savings will naturally vary depending on traffic, driving style, vehicle load, air-conditioning usage and real-world mileage.

2026 Maruti Baleno Price

Maruti Suzuki has launched the updated Baleno with prices starting at approximately:

₹6.10 lakh ex-showroom

The Baleno continues to compete in India's premium hatchback market against cars such as the Hyundai i20, Tata Altroz and Toyota Glanza.

Auto Punditz Take

The shift from the old four-cylinder K12N engine to the three-cylinder Z12E clearly shows where Maruti Suzuki's priorities lie with the new Baleno: efficiency and lower running costs.

A drop of around 7 hp may disappoint buyers who preferred the smoother and relatively stronger four-cylinder engine, but for the average Baleno customer, fuel efficiency is likely to carry considerably more weight. The 24.77 km/l petrol-AMT figure is particularly noteworthy because customers no longer need to choose between automatic convenience and better mileage — the AMT is actually more efficient than the manual on paper.

Meanwhile, at 33.61 km/kg, the Baleno CNG becomes an even more compelling proposition for high-mileage users. The key question now is how closely the new Z12E-powered Baleno can replicate these gains in real-world conditions. If the claimed improvement translates meaningfully to everyday driving, the powertrain update could prove to be one of the most important changes introduced with the 2026 Baleno facelift.