Maruti Suzuki Baleno is nearing the landmark of one lakh unit sales in the domestic market. It looks like the premium hatchback of India's largest car maker will race past the magic number before its first anniversary on October 26.
Maruti Suzuki has sold 80,330 units of the Baleno so far in the country. With average monthly sales of nearly 9,000 units, crossing 1 lakh sales before its anniversary will be a cakewalk for the Baleno. In the first five days after its launch in October 2015, Maruti Suzuki sold 4,229 units of the Baleno. It rose to 9,074 in November 2015 and then to 10,572 unit in December 2015, which was the best selling month for the Baleno.
Starting this year, the sales of the premium hatchback have experienced a decline. The company found 7,698 buyers in January, while 6,888 and 6,236 people bought the car in in February and March, respectively. The sales of the Baleno regained a positive trend in April and the company sold 9,562 units in the month, followed by 10,004 units in May. However, the weeklong maintenance at Manesar and Gurgaon plants crippled the supply and Maruti Suzuki managed to sell only 6,967 units of the Baleno in June. In July, the performance was back on track, with 9,100 units sold in the month.
The Baleno has a waiting period of up to eight months. Maruti Suzuki has, starting from this month, increased the price of the car by up to Rs. 10,000. The hatchback is now priced from Rs 5.25 lakh to Rs 8.35 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi. Under the hood, it is powered by a 1.2-litre K-Series petrol engine and a 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engine. The petrol engine develops 83bhp and 115Nm of torque while the diesel mill churns out 74bhp and 190Nm of torque.
