2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift beats Baleno hatchback in a month after launch

2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift has been priced in the range of Rs 4.99 lakh to Rs 8.29 lakh and commands a waiting period of nearly six months.

2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift Vs Baleno — Both new Maruti Suzuki Swift and Baleno are based on the HEARTACT platformMaruti Suzuki

The new Maruti Suzuki Swift hatchback was a hit with over 30,000 bookings even before the company announced the price of it at the Auto Expo 2018. The new Swift, which completed a month in the Indian market, has now surpassed the sales of Baleno, the premium hatchback of Maruti in the launch month.

According to a report of Cartoq, the 2018 Swift sold 17,291 units in February, the first month of its launch in the country, outselling its premium sibling the Baleno by 1484 units. Maruti Suzuki sold 15,807 units of Baleno in February 2018.

Both the Baleno and Swift hatchbacks are based on the new generation HEARTACT platform that also underpins the new Maruti Suzuki Dzire. The hatchbacks are also priced closely, though they are positioned differently in the market. Maruti Suzuki has priced the new 2018 Swift from Rs 4.99 lakh to Rs 8.29 lakh while the Baleno is priced in the range of Rs 5.36 lakh to Rs 8.50 lakh range (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift — Third generation Maruti Suzuki SwiftIBT Media/ Ken Sunny

The demand for the new Swift has been going up since its launch and the waiting period has also been extended to nearly six months in some of the cities. Maruti Suzuki started the deliveries of the Swift from February 9. The new Swift comes in LXi/LDi, VXi/VDi, ZXi/ZDi, and ZDi+/ZXi+ variants.

Third generation Swift comes powered by the tried-and-tested 1.2-liter K12 VVT petrol and 1.3-liter DDiS 190 diesel engines. The petrol engine is tuned to churn out 83hp of power and 113Nm of torque while the diesel develops 75hp of power and 190Nm of torque. The Swift gets the five-speed manual transmission and five-speed Auto Gear Shift (AGS) transmission in both petrol and diesel trims.

The new Swift measures 3,840 mm in length, 1,735 mm in width and 1,530 mm height. It comes with a wheelbase of 2,450 mm and offers a ground clearance of 163 mm. On the safety front, the new 2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift features dual front airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, front seat belts with pre-tensioners and an ISOFIX child seat as standard on all variants of the new model.

The 2018 Swift sold through the new rebranded Maruti Suzuki Arena dealerships.