Maruti Baleno Dominates Sales Despite 2018 Hyundai Elite i20 Launch

Despite no major changes whatsoever, the Baleno continues to post healthy sales numbers month after month. It has now crossed the 4 lakh sales milestone.

The Baleno nameplate might feature as one of the more successful models in the last few years but that wasn’t the case when Maruti had a three-box car with the same badge in India. In its current hatchback avatar, the Maruti Baleno has been setting the sales charts on fire and has managed to cross 4 lakh sales in India in less than 3 years of its launch.

Retailed through the company’s premium Nexa outlets - it was the second product to grace Nexa showrooms after the Maruti S-Cross - the car has also helped the chain expand. There are currently 300 Nexa showrooms in the country and the lineup of cars has also expanded to four.

Sales numbers

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno has averaged 12,368 units a month from its inception (October 2015 – May 2018). At the same time, its closest rival, the Hyundai i20, managed to average 10,857 units in the same period. The i20 had the supremacy in the segment till the end of 2016 but the Baleno managed to take over the top spot from 2017 onwards. The present state of affairs can be gauged by their retail figures for May 2018. The Baleno managed to do 19398 units whereas the i20 sold a little over half that number. In the last six months too, the Baleno’s sales have averaged at 17,365 units while the Elite i20’s average is 11,537 units, which in itself is not a small number by any standards.

What’s more impressive is that the Maruti hatchback hasn’t received any major change since its launch, although we can expect a mid-life update soon. It competes with the Hyundai Elite i20, Honda Jazz and the Volkswagen Polo in India. Among the upcoming rivals, the Tata 45X is confirmed to be introduced in the premium hatchback segment by 2019.

The Baleno is available in both petrol and diesel engine options. The petrol engine is a 1.2-litre unit producing 84PS of maximum power. The diesel engine is a 1.3-litre, 75PS unit. A 5-speed manual transmission is standard, while an optional CVT is offered with the petrol motor. Fuel efficiency with both the engines is rated at 21.4kmpl (petrol) and 27.39kmpl (diesel). Also on offer is a sportier Maruti Baleno RS, which is based on the Baleno’s top-spec Alpha variant and gets a 1.0-litre 102PS/150Nm petrol engine. It returns a claimed mileage of 21.1kmpl.

The Baleno’s prices start from Rs 5.36 lakh and go up to Rs 8.50 lakh whereas the Elite i20 falls in the Rs 5.41 lakh to Rs 9.21 lakh price range (ex-showroom Delhi).

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