Maruti Suzuki Baleno led the way ahead of Hyundai Elite i20 with 1,71,053 unit sales of the petrol version in the 2019 calendar year
The Baleno emerged as the first true success story from the Nexa premium dealerships and Maruti Suzuki was quick to capitalise on its momentum. The rivalry between Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20 has been raging on for years and both have taken the large pie compared to other hatchbacks in the segment.
The Baleno was the most sold premium hatchback in the country last year with a total of 1,83,862 units while the Elite i20 finished second with 1,23,201 units. The contribution of the petrol variants in the cumulative volumes were higher for both the models. About 93 per cent of the total Baleno sales were for petrol trims.
Only 12,809 units were recorded for the 1.3-litre diesel engine equipped variants and it had already been discontinued due to the more stringent BSVI emission standards that came into effect from the beginning of this month. As for the Elite i20, 1,02,662 units among the 1,23,201 total were for the gasoline powered variants.
| Model | Petrol | Diesel | Total |
| 1. Maruti Suzuki Baleno | 1,71,053 | 12,809 | 1,83,862 |
| 2. Hyundai i20 | 1,02,662 | 20,539 | 1,23,201 |
| 3. Volkswagen Polo | 15,440 | 3,061 | 18,501 |
| 4. Toyota Glanza | 17,946 | – | 17,946 |
| 5. Ford Freestyle | 5,525 | 4,170 | 9,695 |
| 6. Honda Jazz | 9,093 | 419 | 9,512 |
However, compared to the Baleno, the Elite i20 exceeded in the diesel sales with 20,539 units – nearly 8,000 units more than that of the Baleno diesel specced models. The Polo ended up third in the overall sales charts for the 2019 calendar year with a total of 18,501 units. The Polo finished far behind the Baleno and i20 in terms of volumes.
The Polo’s sales were dominated by the petrol version as well and it was the similar case throughout the segment as the hatchbacks can return healthy fuel economy and are more affordable than the diesel models. About 15,440 units of the Polo were for petrol trims at a dominant ratio of 83:17.
The Glanza, rebadged version of Maruti Suzuki Baleno, was introduced in mid-2019 and it is only sold with a 1.2-litre DualJet petrol engine. It registered close to 18,000 units last year while the Ford Freestyle ended up fourth ahead of Honda Jazz with 57 and 96 per cent respective numbers were for petrol variants.