new delhi the battle between maruti suzuki and rival hyundai is getting intense marutis premium compact baleno within months of launch from a new retail format nexa has overtaken hyundais bestseller elite i20 the new baleno is one of marutis most ambitious products and is the mainstay for nexa channel at present which is aimed at premium and upmarket customers maruti suzuki sold 10572 baleno in december compared to 10379 elite i20 by hyundai numbers released by industry body siam showed in november maruti sold 9074 baleno as against 10074 elite i20 by hyundai marutis surge in the category comes at a time when it is set to challenge the korean rival in the suv category as well while hyundai has been going strong with newlylaunched creta maruti will unveil vitara brezza at the delhi auto expo next month it plans to commercially launch the suv around march the baleno which carries a 12litre petrol engine and a 13litre diesel variant with key safety features such as dual air bags and abs as standard was launched by maruti on october 26 with an aggressive entry price of rs 499 lakh exshowroom delhi for the entry petrol variant this went up to rs 511 lakh after a price hike earlier this month the base diesel variant costs rs 621 lakh the elite i20s base petrol variant costs rs 536 lakh while the diesel version comes for rs 647 lakh when contacted maruti officials said the baleno now commands a waiting period the response has been strong and we expect that the demand will remain robust in the coming months as well said partho banerjee senior vp at the company who heads the nexa channel maruti has been boosting the number of nexa outlets as it looks to add new models by pankaj doval tnn published on jan 19 2016 at 0840 am ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert our moderators to take actions reasons for reporting foul language defamatory inciting hatred against a certain community out of context spam others report join the community of 2m industry professionals subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights analysis download etauto app get realtime updates save your favourite articles scan to download app baleno maruti suzuki i20 siam hyundai motor india maruti baleno elite partho banerjee maruti suzuki india limited hyundai motor india limited hyundai elite i20 nexa auto expo 2016 creta hyundai creta homenewsmaruti baleno beats hyundai elite i20 as no 1 premium compact