Maruti Suzuki Baleno gets 6 months waiting period with 45000 outstanding bookings

Maruti Suzuki is hoping on its Gujarat plant to manufacture both the Baleno and the next-generation Swift for the future.

The Maruti Suzuki Maruti Baleno commands a waiting period of over six months, despite Maruti’s plants running to full capacity. The Nexa dealerships have been facing a tough time delivering the Baleno, which has had more than 100,000 bookings, since launch in last October. As part of the “Make-in-India” initiative, Maruti Suzuki exports the Baleno to Europe and Japan, manufactured from its Manesar plant in India. The waiting period might get even longer, if the Maruti Suzuki launches the Baleno in the Indonesian market, where it was spotted recently. The top-end Baleno was not camouflaged suggesting an early launch in the country. The Manesar plant boasts of a higher capacity of 5.5 lakh from where it churns out 8500 to 10000 Balenos each month. Currently, Maruti is looking to ramp up production of the Baleno to up to 165,000 units each year. Maruti’s exports to more international markets, with cars manufactured from India, is, of course, seen as a welcome move, despite the fact that this can add to the pressure on the Baleno’s waiting period, which is currently a longer six months. Maruti Suzuki is hoping on its Gujarat plant to manufacture both the Baleno and the next-generation Swift for the future. With full-scale production beginning from 2017, the Gujarat plant will boast of a capacity of 2.5 lakh units. This is expected to help reduce the waiting period for the Baleno and other cars as the next-generation Swift, which awaits a launch in early 2017. The new Swift will also find faster movement, without prolonged waiting periods and bottlenecks, after its launch in 2017, with the Gujarat plant operative from next year. Talking about the current situation of prolonged waiting periods for the Baleno, RS Kalsi, Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., said, “We have over 45000 outstanding bookings of Baleno. We are making all possible efforts to de-bottleneck the lines and enhance production.” Though this is only a marginal setback to the affordable and top selling hatchback Maruti Suzuki Baleno, it is hoped that the longer waiting period should not lead to cancellation of bookings on an otherwise great car. The Maruti Suzuki Baleno, currently being considered as the best premium hatchback among its rivals, has consistently beaten the Hyundai Elite i20, while also competing with Honda Jazz, in its segment.