Baleno becomes Maruti’s most exported car in February

Just a couple of months after Maruti Suzuki India commenced exports of the Baleno, the company’s latest premium hatchback has become its most exported car in February.

With shipments of nearly 3,400 units in the month, the Baleno outdid its siblings, the Alto (1,645 units) and the Swift (1,425 units) in February, the two other most exported cars from the company’s stable. Maruti Suzuki had started exporting the Baleno hatchback in January with the first lot of 1,760, right-hand drive, petrol-engined cars shipped to Japan.

Following this, the company also began exports to six other European countries – Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia and Spain – in February. Officially unveiled for the European markets at the Geneva Motor Show this month, the Baleno is slated to go on sale in Europe from April.

The export model Baleno is powered by the new 1242cc DualJet petrol engine and another new 1.0-litre BoosterJet engine is also in the offing.

The high export numbers of the Baleno do not come as a surprise though as Maruti Suzuki had earlier said that it plans to aggressively export the hatchback to over 100 markets worldwide, with an initial target of 5,000-6,000 units a month.

The exclusively made-in-India Baleno was launched in New Delhi on October 26, 2015. With 38,461 units sold from October 2015-February 2016 in the domestic market, the Baleno has become one of the star performers for Maruti Suzuki India.

Top 5 most exported Indian cars in February

Not only did the Baleno become Maruti Suzuki’s most exported car in February, but it also managed to break into the list of top 5 most exported Indian cars in the month. The premium hatchback joined the likes of the Ford EcoSport, Nissan’s Micra and Sunny and the Chevrolet Beat.

Even as Ford’s sub-four-metre EcoSport has lost some of its sheen in the domestic market, the compact SUV was the most exported car in the month with 8,309 units.

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A close second is Nissan Motor India’s Micra hatchback. Even as the car has seen abysmal sales in the domestic market (787 units), the Micra continues to be among the top exported cars from the country with 8,211 units in the month.

Another weak performer in the domestic market – Chevrolet Beat – was the third most exported car from India in February. The company shipped 5,131 units of the hatchback last month compared to sales of just 759 units in the domestic market.

The Nissan Sunny took the next spot with exports of 4,363 units in the month. The car which was popular with fleet owners in the country has seen its sales dip sharply in the recent past in the domestic market. Nissan sold only 217 units of the car in India in February.

The Maruti Baleno took the last spot on the export list in February but with the company looking to add more markets in the coming months, the Baleno is likely to feature higher on the list going forward. Watch out this space for the export performance of Indian cars in the coming months.