India’s top car-maker Maruti to roll out compact SUV on Baleno platform

bY S VENKAT NARAYAN

Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, December 19:

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd—the country’s largest car-maker, is developing a compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) that may be primarily based on its common Baleno hatchback, two people with the knowledge of the corporate’s plans said.

Code-named ‘YTB’, the vehicle is to be designed as a coupe or a mini crossover, they added.

The plan is to bolster efforts to regain market share in the fast-rising SUV market, by competing with rivals such as Hyundai Motor India Ltd and Kia Motors.

By tapping the present Baleno platform, Maruti will save on cost and time spent usually on building an automobile from a scratch.

“Internally, it’s been known as the ‘sister automobile’ of Baleno. Firms typically take this path to increase their product portfolio rapidly. Maruti has already adopted this technique efficiently with XL6 and Ertiga. They want a very good variety of SUVs within the portfolio to increase their market share within the SUV section,” said a source.

This will be Maruti’s second compact SUV after Vitara Brezza, which was launched in 2016. The company has maintained its dominance within the hatchback and sedan segments, but there has been a gradual increase in buyer choice in SUVs. This has led to Maruti enhance its portfolio in the SUV sector.

Within the compact SUV section, Maruti leads with Vitara Brezza. But competition has intensified with nearly each car-producer in the country eyeing a piece of this rising market.

During the first half of 2020, Hyundai tipped Maruti as the biggest maker of SUVs in India.