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MUL's Baleno launched in Delhi

In order to give customers a choice beyond the Esteem segment, Maruti Udyog Limited today launched 1.6 litre Baleno with a price tag of Rs 6.74 lakh (ex-showroom) in New Delhi.

MUL expects to sell 800-1,000 Balenos in the last quarter of this financial year and 10,000 cars in the next fiscal, a company spokesman told reporters.

''Baleno is only the first offering in a series of new launches planned by the company,'' MUL managing director Jagdish Khattar said. He, however, refused to divulge any details on the new models.

Recent reports in a section of press suggest that MUL is planning to launch Suzuki's Alto and Wagon R models in India.

When asked what was the logic behind introducing another model in the crowded mid-size segment, Khattar said: ''Our customers told us that Maruti vehicles should also be in the top-end of the mid-size segment and hence we have introduced Baleno.''

Baleno is benchmarked against Ford Escort, Mitsubishi Lancer, Honda City and Opel Astra. While Mitsubishi Lancer's entry level price is Rs 7.35 lakh ex-showroom in Delhi, Honda City's 1.5 litre version is available for Rs 7,57,000.

Ford Escorts starts at Rs 7,00,431 and Opel Astra is available at Rs 6,77,632.

Driven by 16-valve engine, Baleno is available in five colours: milky white, riviera red, exotique green, atlantic blue and pearl silver.

To a question on why has MUL chosen Suzuki's model name for the Indian version which is at variance with the company's policy so far, Khattar said Baleno is internationally known and the company thought it proper to retain that name.

He evaded a direct reply to the question whether MUL would choose Suzuki's model names for its other launches in future, stating that it would depend on the situation at that point of time.

Khattar claimed that MUL would sell 4,00,000 units of vehicles this fiscal compared to 3,35,000 last fiscal.

UNI

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