Maruti Suzuki Baleno bookings cross 1 lakh, prices increased: Report

Maruti Suzuki's latest premium hatchback, the Baleno, was launched in Oct. 26, 2015. The largest car manufacturer of India has been making good sales ever since the hatchback was launched. Four month after the launch, the Baleno now makes headlines with bookings of over 1 lakh.

According to Rushlane, Maruti Suzuki India has confirmed that the company has received over a lakh bookings for the Baleno. Towards the end of January, Maruti Suzuki received over 70,000 bookings for the Baleno and the new milestone makes it clear that the vehicle has become another successful model for the company.

Interestingly, the achievement comes soon after Maruti Suzuki revised prices of its cars after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in Budget 2016 that the government would levy Infrastructure tax on all four-wheelers. The Baleno was launched with prices ranging from Rs 4.9 to Rs 8.11 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The prices were increased in the range of Rs 5000 to Rs 12,000 in January 2016. With the latest price hike, the hatchback now costs Rs 5.15 lakh for the base petrol variant, while the base diesel variant cost Rs 6.33 lakh. The top-end diesel trim now command Rs 8.32 lakh, ex-showroom.

Though there is staggering bookings for the Baleno, the sales of the car is yet to get stability. After overtaking its arch rival Hyundai i20's sales in December 2015, Maruti's hatchback has been trailing behind in the last two months.

The Baleno is manufactured only in India, and the company is planning to export the hatchback to over 100 countries. The car is powered by a 1.2-litre K-Series petrol engine tuned to develop 83bhp and 115Nm of torque, while the 1.3-litre DDiS diesel mill churns out 74bhp and 190Nm of torque. Both engines are mated to a five-speed manual transmission, and the petrol engine is also available with CVT automatic gearbox.