Milestone achieved: Maruti Suzuki Baleno sale touches 1.5 lakh unit

Maruti Suzuki's premium hatchback Baleno has clocked a new milestone of 1.5 lakh unit sales in India. The model is sold through Nexa, Maruti Suzuki's premium dealership, and enjoys a good following after hitting the Indian roads in October 2015.

The mainstay of Nexa showroom, the premium hatchback Baleno, has been clocking an average monthly sale of 9,500 units in the country since its debut.

The Baleno touched 1 lakh sale milestone within a year of its entry into the market. The scaling of demand for the Baleno has led to the prolonged waiting period in the country despite the increase in its production. Currently, the Baleno commands a waiting period of over five months and it is unlikely to go down anytime soon. RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki in an interview to ET Auto reinforced the same stating that there is no likelihood of down soon, despite a new production plant in Gujarat.

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. Buoyed by the success of the Baleno, Maruti Suzuki has recently added a more powerful version of the hatchback, called the Baleno RS in the nexa lineup. Baleno RS is Maruti's first offering in the hot-hatch segment. Priced at Rs 8.69 lakh, the Baleno RS comes with a 1.0-litre BoosterJet engine, which is tuned to churn out 100bhp at 5,500rpm 1,700 and 4,500rpm.