Maruti Suzuki looks to ride on premium hatchback sales, kick-starts Baleno bookings

Maruti Suzuki, the leader in the passenger vehicle segment, has finally lifted the curtains from its most premium hatchback, Baleno. The car would hit the market on 26th of this month and debut in five different trims, including an automatic based on the fuel-efficient, continuous variable transmission technology.

The Baleno badge has been extended to the new hatchback from the earlier sedan that could not create much of a wave in the Indian market and was soon phased out by Maruti Suzuki. The new Baleno would compete with the likes of segment leader, Hyundai Elite i20 and the Honda Jazz.

Maruti dealers has opened bookings for the hatchback that would be available in both 1.3 litre diesel and 1.2 litre petrol. The company has not revealed any prices so far, but these are expected to be closer to the base price of the i20 that starts at Rs 5.34 lakh for the entry level. This premium hatchback will be the second model to be sold through the NEXA sales outlets. Maruti S-Cross, launched in August this year, is already available through NEXA.

Baleno, a premium hatchback, would be placed over the highly successful hatchback Swift that sells close to 17,000 units-a-month. Based on the new design concept of 'Liquid Flow', Maruti has made Baleno a combination of flowing curves and elegant styling to take on the highly sculptured competitors like the i20.

Premium hatchbacks have been surging as one of the strongest segments in the domestic market with over 40,000 units being sold every month. With the customers craving for high-end features in smaller cars, the market for premium hatchback is on a roll with Hyundai selling over 10,000 units of its i20 Elite in the market every month, followed by the Honda Jazz that sold 4,762 units in September this year.

Taking a cue from its successful models, Maruti has built the new Baleno platform on ultra-high tensile steel that makes it 100 kg lighter and around 10 per cent stronger than conventional models. Also in a first for the segment, Maruti has launched UV Cut glasses that are expected to reduce the effect of UV rays by up to 85 per cent and the car would be loaded with dual airbags and anti-lock brakes as standard fitment across all variants.