Maruti Baleno
Maruti BalenoPR handout

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki's premium hatchback Beleno's sales touched one lakh in the domestic market on October 4. Launched on October 26 2015, Baleno took less than a year to achieve milestone sales figure and it is one of the top selling models of Maruti Suzuki at present.

In addition to the domestic sales, 33,800 Baleno cars have been exported across the world, including to Japan and Europe. The Baleno is the second premium product of Maruti Suzuki sold exclusively via Nexa dealerships after the S-Cross crossover.

"Baleno is one of the big success stories of the Indian auto industry. Baleno carries our new design philosophy and is equipped with several high-end features and technologies like Apple CarPlay that have attracted young customers. Our engineers have ensured that built on an innovative new platform, Baleno offers superior ride and handling, besides best-in-class fuel efficiency. Safety features like dual airbags and ABS with EBD are standard in Baleno – another first for this segment. It is truly a symbol of Make-in-India," said R S Kalsi, Maruti Suzuki's executive director Marketing & Sales.

On increased booking and waiting period of the Baleno, Kalsi added "We have optimized our production so that we can deliver their cars in the committed timeframe while ensuring the highest levels of quality." In addition, the company hopes to reduce the waiting period once its new plant in Gujarat becomes operational in early 2017.

Baleno is exclusively manufactured in India for the domestic market as well as for the rest of the world. It is the first car to be exported from India to Japan and Maruti Suzuki plans to export the car to 100 international markets.

The Baleno competes against the Hyundai Elite i20 and Honda Jazz, and is offered in four trims and seven body shades. Under the hood, Maruti Baleno is powered by a 1.2-litre K-Series petrol engine and a 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engine. While the petrol engine is tuned to develop 83bhp and 115Nm of torque, the diesel mill churns out 74bhp and 190Nm of torque.