New Delhi: Suzuki Motor Corp. is likely to supply as many as 25,000 Maruti Suzuki Baleno premium hatchbacks each year to Toyota Motor Corp. as the car gets set to become the first cross-badged product of the auto makers, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Toyota will start hawking the Baleno through its own dealership network from the first quarter of next fiscal year, the people who didn’t want to be named said.
To start with, Suzuki will supply 20,000 to 25,000 Baleno cars each year to Toyota’s local unit, the people said. The vehicle, which is currently produced at Suzuki’s factory in Gujarat, will undergo some minor changes in its exteriors and interiors such as head lamps, tail lamps and front grill, they said.
“The decision has already been taken by both the headquarters in Japan and the first vehicle to be launched will be Baleno,” said the first person cited above. “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.”
Spokespeople for the local units of Suzuki and Toyota—Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd—declined to comment.
Since its launch in 2015, the Baleno has turned to be a chartbuster Maruti Suzuki product with average monthly sales of 15,000 cars.
The sourcing of the Baleno follows
a pact between Toyota and Suzuki in March this year for the two Japanese companies to sell each other’s vehicles in India. Suzuki will later also supply its compact sport-utility vehicle Vitara Brezza to Toyota. In return, Suzuki would source Toyota’s Corolla sedan and sell it through Maruti’s dealer network.
Suzuki and Toyota will have a task on their hands as cross-badging as a concept in India hasn’t set the sales charts on fire.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance, and Volkswagen and Skoda, tried a similar strategy with models such as Renault Duster and Nissan Terrano SUVs, and Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid sedans among others.