Key highlights
- 2026 Maruti Baleno facelift will offer CNG-AMT option
- It will be the first Maruti to offer automatic gearbox with CNG engine
- India launch is scheduled for September 5
Ahead of the official unveiling of the new Maruti Baleno facelift on September 5, 2026, a new media report has leaked that it will come with a CNG-AMT combination. If so, the Baleno facelift will be the first Maruti car to feature an automatic gearbox with a CNG engine.
Maruti Baleno facelift to get CNG-AMT variants?
As per a report published by CarWale, the upcoming Baleno facelift will get the 5-speed AMT gearbox with the 1.2-litre four-cylinder CNG engine option. This will eliminate the absence of an automatic gearbox with a CNG engine from Maruti’s stable.
The 5-speed AMT gearbox is likely to be the same as the one used on the petrol variants of the current Baleno. However, since it will be paired with the CNG powertrain, its tuning will be different from the petrol version.
CNG engine is known to offer a 10-15% power drop compared to the petrol engine. Hence, we can safely say that this gearbox will keep the revs slightly higher than the petrol version.
While it was Tata Motors that launched the first CNG-automatic car in India, Maruti’s decision of equipping the new Baleno with this combination will certainly be fruitful. A majority of Tata’s sales have been coming from this specific powertrain-gearbox combination, and the same is set for Maruti in the coming months.
Since the same engine and AMT gearbox are offered on Fronx, we can also expect the CNG-AMT options to be offered on it in the future. Moreover, it won’t be difficult for Maruti to equip the Brezza, Ertiga, Swift, and Dzire with the CNG-AMT options in the near future.
Maruti will launch the 2026 Baleno facelift on September 5, 2026, in India with slight cosmetic tweaks, new features like a bigger 10.1-inch infotainment screen, and the CNG-AMT gearbox option.
With that said, the CNG-AMT variants will be at least Rs 50,000 more expensive than the manual version. But it will be worth paying the additional amount, especially if your commute includes bumper-to-bumper traffic.
