Maruti Suzuki Baleno overtakes Hyundai’s Elite i20 to become the best seller

Maruti’s premium compact ‘Baleno’, within months of launch from a new retail format Nexa, has overtaken Hyundai’s best-seller ‘Elite i20’. The new Baleno is one of Maruti’s most ambitious products and is the mainstay for Nexa channel at present, which is aimed at premium and upmarket customers.

Maruti Suzuki sold approximately 10,500 Baleno in December compared to 10,300 Elite i20 by Hyundai, numbers released by industry body SIAM showed. In November, Maruti sold 9,074 Baleno as against 10,074 Elite i20 by Hyundai.

While Hyundai has been going strong with newly-launched ‘Creta’, Maruti will unveil ‘Vitara Brezza’ at the Delhi Auto Expo next month.

It plans to commercially launch the SUV around March.

Maruti officials said the Baleno now commands a waiting period. “The response has been strong, and we expect that the demand will remain robust in the coming months as well,” said Partho Banerjee, senior VP at the company, who heads the Nexa channel.

Maruti is in plans to open a additional 150 Nexa showrooms across India to increase their foot print as currently they sell their premium cars like the Baleno and S-Cross only via the Nexa showrooms.

Image Source – NDTV Auto