Maruti Suzuki Baleno still in great demand; waiting period stands at 8 months

Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest carmaker, launched the Baleno premium hatchback in India in October 2015 and a year down the line, the premium hatchback continues to enthral auto lovers in the country. What is interesting is that the Baleno has managed to keep the momentum going, despite increase in the price of the model for the third time in August.

A report of Autocar India says that the Baleno continues to have a prolonged waiting period of eight months for some of its variants and the hatchback is still in huge demand. While the the petrol and diesel manual models of the Baleno command a waiting period of seven months, the CVT variant of the hatchback has eight months waiting period.

The Baleno has garnered over 1 lakh bookings in the country since its launch and the company is said to have a huge backlog. The waiting period of the Baleno is expected to go down in 2017 as the new plant in Gujarat will commence its operations early next year. The Baleno is sold through Nexa dealerships in the country. Although the premium hatchback was the second model to join the Nexa line-up after the S-Cross, the hatchback is currently the mainstay of the premium dealerships.

The Baleno has been registering consistent and steady growth in the market since its entry last October. The Baleno, which rivals Hyundai Elite i20 and Honda Jazz, is offered in four trims and seven body shades. Under the hood, Maruti Baleno includes 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.

The popularity of the Baleno and the Viatara brezza also said to have prompted the company to defer the launch of the Ignis and the powerful version of the Baleno hatchback -- the Baleno RS. Both the models are now expected to come to market in early 2017.