Maruti Baleno registered a growth of 11 per cent in FY2019 as it utterly dominated the premium hatchback segment
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) began the sales of the Baleno premium hatchback back in October 2015 and it became the first true successor sold out of the Nexa premium dealerships as the S-Cross did not give the same kind of momentum initially. In the early stages, the Baleno and then segment leader Hyundai Elite i20 had close battles for the top position in the monthly sales table in their segment.
The Baleno could not crack the segment just as other models from Maruti’s portfolio did as the Elite i20 gave serious competition. But, when the Baleno started pulling away and maintained volume difference to the Korean hatchback, its domination was clear to be seen. In 2018, the Maruti Baleno finished as the fourth most sold model in India with a total of 2,10,236 units.
The Hyundai Elite i20 was the most sold Hyundai last year as it beat the Grand i10 with 1,41,104 units. However, it was not enough to get anywhere close to the Maruti Baleno. In the recently concluded financial year between April 2018 and March 2019, the Baleno showcased a similar level of supremacy as 2,12,330 deliveries were made as against 1,90,480 units during the corresponding time the previous fiscal with 11 per cent growth.
| Models | FY 2018-19 Sales |
| Maruti Suzuki Baleno | 2,12,330 |
| Hyundai Elite i20 | 1,40,225 |
| Ford Freestyle | 22,875 |
| Volkswagen Polo | 18,151 |
| Honda Jazz | 15,091 |
The Elite i20 finished second with a total of 1,40,225 units and when compared to the same period in FY2018 1,36,182 units were retailed at a surge of 3 per cent. With the Volkswagen Polo and Honda Jazz’s sales plummeting due to lack of updates, the recently launched Ford Freestyle pounced on the opportunity and garnered 22,875 units.
The Polo ended up fourth ahead of Jazz as only 18,151 units were sold last fiscal with a sales drop of 9 per cent. The Jazz, on the other hand, faced a massively disappointing financial year as only 15,091 units were delivered against 27,468 units in FY2018 with a huge sales slump of 45 per cent.
Toyota will be launching the Glanza on June 6 as the new entrant into the premium hatchback space is essentially a rebadged Baleno with no mechanical changes and very minor cosmetic update.