Long wait for Baleno customers

Maruti Suzuki’s latest premium hatchback, Baleno, has received an overwhelming response since its launch in October 2015 and has clocked nearly 70,000 bookings till date. The huge demand, however, has resulted in a waiting period of around five to six months for the car and company officials do not see the long waiting period shrinking anytime soon.

“We did not anticipate such a response for the Baleno. The waiting period of close to six months is likely to continue. However, we are in talks with our production team to see how quickly we can ramp up the production,” Partho Banerjee, Senior Vice President (NEXA Channel), Marketing & Sales, told Autocar India today.

Maruti produced 11,203 units of the Baleno in December 2015. In fact, the hatch sold 10,572 units during the same month and toppled the Hyundai i20 (10,379 units) to become the top selling premium hatchback.

The carmaker plans to begin exporting the Baleno starting later this month, which is further likely to weigh on production. R S Kalsi, Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki said,” We will export the Baleno to Japan. We also have plans to then export it to Western Europe, Latin America, some African countries.” The carmaker has export orders from more than 100 countries, he added.

S-Cross price cut

Maruti Suzuki recently cut prices of the S-Cross premium crossover, by up to Rs 2.05 lakh in an attempt to boost sales. The prices of the car now start at Rs 7.79 lakh and go up to Rs 11.69 lakh for the top-spec variant. Both prices are for ex-showroom, Delhi.

Kalsi added that bookings have already increased following the price cut and the carmaker anticipates a pick-up in sales in the near term. “In India, the customer compares price to value proposition. The gap between prices of the 1.3-litre variant and 1.6-litre variant was perceived to be high by the customer, hence we have done price correction in line with market expectation,” he said, commenting on the move.

Maruti Suzuki today inaugurated its 100th Nexa premium dealership in the country in Thane, Mumbai. It has plans to ramp up the number of outlets to 140 by April this year, and is targeting 250 showrooms by April 2017.