Maruti Baleno races past 80,000 sales mark in 10 months

Record sales in July 2016, long waiting periods and high demand for its premium models have seen Maruti shed its mass market car manufacturer image.

Leading the premium charge for India’s largest carmaker is the Baleno hatchback, which has zipped past the 80,000 sales mark within a scant 10 months of its launch.

Averaging monthly sales of over 8,000 units, the Baleno has sold a total of 80,330 units until the end of July 2016. Given the pent-up demand for the car, the carmaker recently hiked the price of the Baleno by Rs 10,000 (and also the Vitara Brezza by Rs 20,000).

Demand for the petrol-engined Baleno is considerably higher compared to the diesel Baleno, with the former contributing close to 70% of the car’s total sales. Put this down to the uncertainty about diesel fuel in the country, and more so in the large passenger car market of Delhi-NCR.

A regular in the monthly Top 10

Soon after its launch in October 2015, the Baleno stormed into the India’s Top 10 best-selling passenger vehicles in November 2015 with sales of 9,074 units. Taking a cue from its earlier S-Cross pricing debacle, Maruti decided to offer a Rs 5 lakh starting price for the Baleno, which made customers throng the carmaker’s premium Nexa dealerships.

The car continued its fine run in December 2016, edging ahead of its rival and segment leader – Hyundai i20 – to occupy the sixth spot in the month’s rankings. It was also the first time the car reached the five-digit sales mark with 10,572 units sold.

January 2016 wasn’t a good month for Indian automakers as car sales fell for the first time in 14 months. Baleno sales also succumbed to the industry sentiment with 7,698 units sold, losing its premium hatchback top spot to the Hyundai i20. Sales dipped further in February as Maruti sold 6,888 Balenos in the month. However, on the brighter side, the Baleno became the most exported car for Maruti in the month with shipments of nearly 3,400 units.

Since the start of FY2017, the Baleno has been breathing down the neck of its rival i20, lagging behind by sales of just a few hundred units. Moreover, it had already received over 100,000 bookings in March stretching the waiting period to around six months. With strong demand for the car in both the domestic and international markets, Maruti is ramping up production of the car in order to reduce the current waiting period.

Impacted by Maruti Suzuki’s sales in June dipping by 10 percent mainly due to a fire at its key supplier Subros’ Manesar plant, leading to the suspension of production at Maruti’s plants for close to 10 days, the Baleno sold only 6,967 units. Nevertheless, the premium hatchback did manage to hang on to a place in the Top 10.

The car bounced back in July with estimated sales of around 9,100 units. Given the pent-up demand, the carmaker’s Nexa dealership, which completed a year, sold over 100,000 units – 71 percent of which was contributed by the Baleno.

The road ahead

With the all-new Gujarat plant slated to go on stream by January-February 2017, additional manufacturing capacity will be freed up for the Baleno at the Manesar plant from where it rolls out. Then, with Maruti Suzuki aggressively expanding its Nexa network to a targeted 250 showrooms by 2017, expect plenty more customer footfalls and Baleno buyers.

Overall, the Baleno has been a true-blue winner for Maruti Suzuki, with the Vitara Brezza also heading in the same direction. Higher mileage, new safety features and various engine options have caught the pulse of the consumer and are in sync with the changing preferences of the market for styling and quality at an affordable cost. With around 350 Balenos sold every day in the country, it won’t be a surprise before the car crosses the 100,000 lakh sales mark before completing a year since its launch.

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