In June this year, Suzuki and Toyota’s firstborn baby for India took centre stage. Christened as the Glanza, it barely fooled anyone for not being a Maruti Suzuki Baleno with Suzuki stamps replaced with Toyota tags. Back then and until recently, the premium hatchback was available in just four variants. Now, we have the fifth one – the Glanza G MT. Priced at Rs 6.98 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), it costs Rs 24,000 less than the previous entry-level variant – G MT.

No, there is no typo in that last sentence of the paragraph above. You see the G MT that came with the Glanza four months ago has a 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine with mild-hybrid technology. What Toyota has introduced now is the same variant but without fuel-saving, acceleration-enhancing tech. That’s the reason why there is a noticeable price difference between the two G MT variants.

The new entrant gets the same power output as all other, non-mild-hybrid derivatives. The engine puts out 82hp/113Nm, all of which is harnessed by a 5-speed manual transmission. Compared to the other G MT variant, the new one has 7hp less at its disposal. Predictably, it is not as frugal either. With a maximum claimed mileage of 21.01kmpl, it is down by 2.86kmpl. Like all others, the new entry-level variant is BS6-compliant.

As far as the list of features is concerned, it is identical in all G-marked iterations. The kit includes LED projector headlamps, 16-inch alloy wheels, a 7.0-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, multifunction steering wheel, voice recognition, 6-speaker sound system, automatic climate control, push-button start/stop and electrically adjustable and foldable ORVMs. On the safety front, features like dual airbags, ABS with EBD, rear wiper with washer and defogger, rear parking sensors, ISOFIX anchorages, auto-dimming IRVM and front fog lamps are on the list.

Without a doubt, the Glanza’s deadliest rival is the Maruti Suzuki Baleno. Sure, the latter does not offer a standard warranty as impressive as the former (2 years/40,000km Vs 3 years/1,00,000km), but a much stronger service network backs the Baleno. Other alternatives to consider in the same segment include the Honda Jazz, Hyundai Elite i20 and the Volkswagen Polo. Next year, Tata Motors will introduce the Altroz to try and unsettle the premium hatchback space.