Maruti Baleno to be the first car to be rebadged and sold as a Toyota

by IndianAuto Team | 06/08/2018
Share this post:
Maruti Suzuki Baleno will undergo a couple of minor tweaks in both of exteriors and interiors before being re-badged as a Toyota.

Maruti Suzuki, a few months ago, reached an agreement with Toyota on jointly producing and sell cars in India market. 

Accordingly, every year, Suzuki Motor Corp will supply roughly 25,000 Maruti Baleno premium hatchbacks to Toyota, of which, the Baleno is decided to be the first Maruti car to be sold as a Toyota. 

Maruti Baleno

Suzuki Motor Corp will supply roughly 25,000 Maruti Baleno premium hatchbacks to Toyota

The launch of Baleno with Toyota-badged will take place in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. Being a part of Toyota, Maruti Baleno premium hatchback and the Vitara Brezza compact SUV will be delivered through Toyota’s own network of dealerships. 

With regard to the exterior, it is likely to be redesigned with a new set of bumpers, updated headlamps, the grille, and the tail lights. The interior is expected to come with some changes.    

From several unnamed sources supposed to be close to one of the two companies, it is said that

“The decision has already been taken by both the headquarters in Japan and the first vehicle to be launched will be Baleno. The changes to be made have already been approved as well and both the companies have already decided on the number of vehicles to be supplied.”

“Toyota anyways doesn’t have any major investment plans in India until 2020 and Baleno is a product which is being exported to other countries including Japan hence there will be no issue regarding quality.” 

Toyota sets a plan for the Baleno to penetrate deeply into Indian hatchback segment. The automaker will also be likely to make use of spare capacity at its plant in Karnataka in the near future as long as Suzuki starts producing the Baleno there. 

Suzuki Baleno

Toyota sets a plan for the Baleno to penetrate deeply into Indian hatchback segment

Explaining the decision choosing Baleno, Puneet Gupta, associate director at IHS Markit said

“Baleno is a well-accepted product in India now and it is expected that adding a product like that will help Toyota in getting volumes in a segment where they are not present.” 

Choosing Baleno would make sense for both Suzuki and Toyota at the time, especially Toyota, which would need a smaller gasoline engine car to meet new corporate average fuel efficiency norms.

Check out the latest car news in Indian by visiting our website - IndianAuto.com

Tracking icon
Would you like to receive notifications with latest news and car deals from IndianAuto?