The Baleno has already dethroned segment leader Hyundai i20. It sold 10,572 units in December 2015 as compared to Hyundai’s 10,378 figure. The company currently has 70,000 bookings from the domestic market alone. The Maruti Suzuki Baleno now has a six month waiting period.
Maruti Suzuki is only producing the Baleno in India, even for the global market and it is from here that the car will be exported to over 100 European markets over the course of the next year. The list includes Japan which is an industry first. With increasing markets and constant growth in demand the waiting period is only likely to get longer.
“We did not anticipate such a response for the Baleno. The waiting period of close to six months is likely to continue. However, we are in talks with our production team to see how quickly we can ramp up the production,” Partho Banerjee, Senior Vice President (NEXA Channel), Marketing & Sales, told a website.
The Maruti Suzuki Baleno was launched for the Indian market in October 2015, with a starting price of Rs 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It is available with both petrol and diesel engines. Both models will get a five-speed manual gearbox as standard and one can option the CVT automatic gearbox on the petrol variant.
![Maruti Suzuki Baleno [2019-2022]](https://imgd-ct.aeplcdn.com/160x89/cw/ec/37710/Maruti-Suzuki-Baleno-Right-Front-Three-Quarter-147420.jpg?wm=0&q=80 "Maruti Suzuki Baleno [2019-2022]")
