First launch in Oct 2015, Maruti Baleno has now become the fastest car to reach the 6 lakh sales mark in the history of Indian auto industry. With a staggering market share of 27% in the popular A2 segment of passenger cars, Maruti Baleno is one of the highest selling cars in the country.
Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, “Baleno is India’s most preferred premium hatchback. Continuous alignment with customer’s expectations and desires along with periodic upgrades in terms of technology, have kept Baleno in the lead in customer’s decision making.
The recently introduced Next Generation Smart Hybrid on Baleno, resonates with customer’s need for contemporary technology. The milestone of 6 Lakh unit cumulative sales in a record time of just 44 months clearly reflects Baleno’s popularity. We thank our customers for their continued support that has helped Baleno to create this industry benchmark of fastest 6 lakh sales milestone.”
Earlier, only offered on the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the next generation Ertiga, the SHVS technology now makes its way onto Maruti Suzuki Baleno premium hatchback. SHVS stands for Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki. It is a mild hybrid system that incorporates integrated starter generator offering the engine power assistance via a motor. It is capable of power regeneration and this new motor with a compact lithium ion battery will help to achieve higher fuel efficiency and at the same time reduce vehicle emissions so as to comply with new regulations.
Maruti Suzuki states that this BS VI compliant engine will not only see reduction in CO2 emission but will also lead to reduction of nearly 20 percent in Nitrogen Oxide emissions as well. The company will also discontinue the diesel variants of the Baleno in view of the fact that 1.3 liter diesel engine does not comply with BSVI norms in its current format while it will not be economically feasible to upgrading it.
Maruti Suzuki Baleno is upgraded to meet the new emission norms ahead of the April 2020 deadline. It sees an updated exhaust system and in hardware and software. The engine control software has been updated for better fuel injection control along and sees the use of several onboard sensors. This SHVS technology is only offered on the Baleno Delta and Zeta variants.
The new Baleno, sold in both standard 1.2 liter petrol and SHVS versions with manual and CVT transmission options, will be available via NEXA outlets. The introduction of the SHVS system has seen an upward revision in prices of the Zeta and Delta. The Baleno Zeta variant which was priced earlier at Rs. Rs.6.97 lakhs has now been increased to Rs.7.86 lakhs while price of the Delta variant has been increased from Rs.6.36 lakhs to Rs.7.25 lakhs. The prices of the other variants remain unchanged. All prices are ex-sh.
