Maruti Suzuki's first made-in-India Baleno consignment reaches Japan

For the first time in the history of India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, the company exported made in India cars to its partner's home land, Japan. The first lot of 1,800 units of the Baleno exported from the Mundra Port in Gujarat earlier this month reached to the Toyohashi Port in Japan on Monday (Feb.22).

The move is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign and the prime minister himself declared the Maruti Suzuki's car export to Japan while addressing the India-Japan Business Leaders Forum in December last year. As per the previous reports, the export to Japan was supposed to start in January 2016. Maruti Suzuki is expecting to export 20,000 to 30,000 units in a year, informed R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, in December 2015, along with the prime minister's announcement.

Apart from Japan, Maruti Suzuki Baleno will be exported to over 100 countries, and India will be the only manufacturing hub. The countries destined to import Baleno are Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Spain, among others. The premium hatchback will also be sold in Latin American countries, such as Chile, Paraguay and Colombia.

The launch of Baleno in Japan is scheduled next month. The Japanese-spec will feature1.0-litre Boosterjet engine which develops 110bhp and 170Nm of torque, along with a 1.2-litre Dualjet engine with SHVS smart hybrid technology, reports IndianAutosBlog. The engines will be mated to five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions.