Reply to: Why Baleno failed?

[UsmanAnsari]

I didnt knew that I had stepped on the tails of Baleno owners by posting the topic; Why Baleno failed... however following are the reasons why it did. Regardless, the Baleno owners agree or disagree...

1. According to a Suzuki sales person, the total number of sales of Suzuki Baleno in 8 years are less than that of Suzuki Margalla's sales in 5 years.

2. Dealers at Suzuki Motors admit the fact that Baleno was intended to grasp the 1300cc market and was also introduced in 1600cc class but it didnt get the praise which the Honda City (launched in 1997-98 when Baleno was launched) and Corolla XLi (launched in 2002) got. And people who opted for Honda City and Corolla were wise enough than those who went for Suzuki Baleno because there was not much price difference. Remember that Corolla is an internationally successful model which is running from 1963 and Honda City, which launched its first model in the same era when Baleno was launched. City is successful because its every model gained repute and fame and continuously changed its model (shapes... im not talking about change in radiator grills) after every 3 years and still considered among the market leaders in its class while Baleno was never able to grab the market leader tag.

3. Its a fact and Baleno owners would also admit that the parts are way too expensive. Backed by the poor quality standards because Baleno owners have been found replacing their suspensions even in the first month of their purchase. Some also have been aligning the doors of their newly purchased vehicles.

4. Its a major fact that people in Pakistan set their standards for themselves, we live in a country where we make the pathetic cars as the market leaders and the most equipped ones as the failures. Its a fact that Suzuki is the manufacturer which never ever change the shape of their vehicles. Bolan (1983), Ravi (1981), Mehran (1989), Cultus (1990), Margalla (1989), Khyber (1988) all of these vehicles never changed their shapes. Baleno and Alto VXR dared to do this only. These vehicles which are still counted as the most successfull vehicles have no recognition in international market. Even Mehran which doesnt even offer the most basic safety feauture.. the seatbelts, except for the VXR version, doesnt even comply to the international driving standards is the "most successful" car in Pakistan.

5. When Kia discontinues its model, its called a failure and when Suzuki discontinues its model its stated as a success... I would like to invite Mr. Saqib (aka Spectra) to enlight more on this issue. People in Pakistan have such a negative thinking for Kia vehicles and have determined it as a flop whereas Spectra is internationally renowned vehicle and continuosly upgrade its models throughout the world, offers 6 airbags, the best in its class. While Baleno is an international flop! in USA you cannot even sell your Baleno for 1200$... but yes internationally rejected Suzuki's are considered as the "most successful" vehicles in Pakistan. so i agree that Suzuki discontinued Baleno just for fun!! not because its failed..

6. Finally i would just like to ask those people who own Honda City and Toyota Corolla (XLi), why did they whent for City and XLi when they had such an ideal option like Baleno in this price range???

Thats all folks...

[spectra]

Very logical conclusions brother. Facts speak.
Will add some thoughts tomorrow, mobile limitation

[Ghuncha]

btw saqib bhai aapne itni lambi kahani mobile se parh kaise li...

[spectra]

[555]

Spectra did not fail at all. It is Pakistani mentality and the assembler which failed. Spectra is a fantastic car.

[agha300]

(Y) analysis

[anonymous112]

I disagree

1. Suzuki salesperson is not taking into account that margalla sold more units because it was the only 1300cc sedan offered in its time and later had very little competition. Baleno came at a time when there was competition in the market. If you say the baleno was internationally failed then the margalla (cultus sedan/esteem) was not a big success internationally either

2. Also the city's model has changed thrice not contnously.

3. Alignment of doors has been happening with honda civis and toyota corollas as well. I dont think there been any suspension problems in the first year of the baleno after Pak Suzuki recalled the baleno in 1999 to replace stiff suspensions.

4. When mehran is called the most succesful car its true because it is. Irrespective of the fact that it has no standard safety features and was a flop in the international market..
   The fact is it was a success in pakistan.
   Same is the case with baleno no matter how much of a flop it is in USA that is a different market.
   For eg the Ford F 150 pickup is the Best selling car in america and outsells any car in the world. That does not mean its perfect. Its known to be a low quality product with numerous problems but the fact is it sells more than any other.

5. When kia discontinues its model its called a flop because the majority calls it a flop not because it ascutally is one. It may have even 8 airbags but it just didnt sell well in pakistan. Same is the case with Fiat Uno. Just because it was succesful in Europe doesnt mean it has to be in Pakistan. Thats just not how it works.

6. Lastly i would like to say that when there is competiton in the market the market leader does not enjoy 100% of the market share and people buy other brands as well and the owner. You could as the same question to baleno owners and ask why they did not buy corollas or honda citys.

[alphaX]

Baleno, when compared to Margalla, did not sell well. The number ONE reason was that Suzuki was hugely mistaken that they could raise prices like Honda did for City and still remain a good seller.

Suzuki actually drove people to buy City by raising its prices, most of these buyers would have opted the Baleno if it had a significantly lower price tag. Margalla sold well cuz the price difference between a City and Margalla was around 2 lakh.

Suzuki did sell around 25000 Balenos in the 8 years of its production run. Which i think it pretty good for an overpriced car.

[alphaX]

Baleno, when compared to Margalla, did not sell well. The number ONE reason was that Suzuki was hugely mistaken that they could raise prices like Honda did for City and still remain a good seller.

Suzuki actually drove people to buy City by raising its prices, most of these buyers would have opted the Baleno if it had a significantly lower price tag. Margalla sold well cuz the price difference between a City and Margalla was around 2 lakh.

Suzuki did sell around 25000 Balenos in the 8 years of its production run. Which i think its a pretty good for an overpriced car.

[alphaX]

Baleno, when compared to Margalla, did not sell well. The number ONE reason was that Suzuki was hugely mistaken that they could raise prices like Honda did for City and still remain a good seller.

Suzuki actually drove people to buy City by raising its prices, most of these buyers would have opted the Baleno if it had a significantly lower price tag. Margalla sold well cuz the price difference between a City and Margalla was around 2 lakh.

Suzuki did sell around 25000 Balenos in the 8 years of its production run. Which i think is a pretty good for an overpriced car.

[Newton]

well friends I have a baleno at home its 2002 GLiP white color done 70,000 kms and trust me i never took it to work shop for some repairing. Well I admit that its breaks are a total failure but what do you say about corolla`s breaks ?? on the other hand it offers best features like tilt steering, 4 speakers, center arm rest (front), height adjustable seat belts etc. Well these are the extra features which it has. It never troubled me at any time and yes I did crossed 200 on it on motorway but it was a little dip in the rroad where it crossed 200. Its pretty spacious suspension is better than city driving experience is better than city and its more spacious than city, lets not talk about corolla cause its a bigger car for the catagory. City has excellent breaks but no features. We bought baleno for 700,000 brand new and brand new city was for 740,000 basic version at that time, well the difference is of 40k, trust me I am not taking the side of baleno but its a total trouble free car and some one posted in past posts about the quality of city you can read if your self what he said, I never had those problems in my car and now I am selling it for 725,000 with cng and I am pretty sure I will sell it but it was never a flop, As another friend pointed it out that it sold less cause of lot of competition around it when it was launched and I have driven a 1.8L left hand drive baleno as well and its way much better than any civic or corolla (local assembled versions). Baleno introduced EFi for the first time in 1300cc class. whereas margalla had flaws it was not spacious at all its breaks were not good as well but better than baleno it had fuel pump problems, glass of windows used to get out of the channel had those stupid kind of seat belts lots of retalling noises but still you guys your selfs admit it was not a flop then how come baleno can be a flop when its far much better than margalla. Trust me I have used margalla and currently have a baleno as well and I also have used city as my brother owns it, city is also an excellent car but not better than baleno in any thing. These are my opinions as I have used all these cars and lets not talk about mehran and by the way mehran has seat belts in every model now.

[fahadullah]

agreed

[SER_GTR]

hello!
i think the most 1300cc cars mostly i seen here in karachi is baleno........topic must say..."Why Baleno is Popular"...answer is simple...FF CNG....from 2003-2006 ask how many balenos they sell out....it might be equal to or more than XLi's.....there are many many balenos on karachi roads...i think there is a tough competition b/w Xli and Suzuki.....yeah 1600cc GTi was failed...but the earlier models are much better and reliable as compare to new one...cheap quality baleno gots...margalla is far much better than baleno...
Thanxxx

[crazy425]

@usman ansari yaar baleno ke peeche kyun pade ho usne tumhara kya bigada haI AND ADMINS PLZ DELETE THIS TOPIC ITS JUST NONSENCE !!!!!!!!THT BALENO FAILED WHT WERE U SMOKIN WHN U POSTED THIS TOPIC!!!!!!!!

[spectra]

Its always about comparing evil with evil.
And this approach is not forward looking at all, whoever says 25000 balenos sold, please tell your source
What is failure worldwide is grand success and what is success story worldwide is failure to us.
This speaks volumes about our mentality.

None of our action reflect patriotism but We take pride in our false egos when we have to by giving such lame excuses.
What a pity

Milion justifications can come to prove like some guys have started on against ansari but

[NSX]

Baleno never failed.. a failed car can be judged by its resale.. look at balenos resale.. awesome!.. now let me tell u guys whoever is comparing sales of baleno with city or corolla.. dont forget that suzuki is a market leader in pakistan in terms of total sales of all cars.. if suzuki had only one product e.g baleno, i bet on it it could have far more sales then corolla & city.. many customers were divided between cultus and baleno coz of a not much difference of price.. cultus vxr cng was being sold for 7,00,000/- when baleno jxr cng was available for 8,30,000/--8,45,000/-

[SER_GTR]

hello!
thats rite....suzuki resale is better than all..no one can reach till that....even nowdays in JDM suzuki was going strong...so its a car to be owned and not to be :).....but its not true that baleno fails even in pakistan...i can't say about rest but here FF CNG baleno is roaming all over the pakistan...
Thanxxx

[g16b]

I Dis-agree.. it is not a failure. the suspension problem u people are pointing at was only when it was first launched, after which, they were replaced with good ones.u people are pointing out at quality, which, bieng an owner of a baleno, i think is not true. quality is fine. there is no reason to say that it is a failure..You people need a serious brain check because whenever a car manufacturer stops a car's production, u call it a failure.. as for the spectra, well, it was discontinued also, then why dont u people call it a failure and call it a nice car? as for mehran, why only mehran? why not coure? only because mehran's are more popular?? whereas coure is smaller than mehran!!..and by the way, i have an XLi and i know its faults,anyone who wants to know can ask...it has given me more trouble than my baleno....u all shud be thankful that ur getting good cars here otherwise u all would have ended up importing overpriced cars with duties and all.. please reconsider what u all said..

[kk_83]

f*** pak suzuki,making pakistanis fool for last 17 years(mehran)........lolz

[AbidSiddiqui]

In Pakistan We cant make such comparisions.

Majority of People here have small sum of money to buy car and choice is limited.

No matter how many problems Thaki hui Suzuki got, it is a success in Pakistan. becoz of its price not of its quality

I agree Suzuki produced sub standard cars in 800cc - 1600 cc catagory but in Pakistan not many are quality concious. Still people buying these cars.

We will keep on buying these sub standards cars untill govet. provide availibility of new cars.

Just go and check the stats of people saying Cultus as good car a year ago. Even my friends who are having cultus are planning to selll their cars and going for VITZ (which is 2nd hand and lamost 50000 done).

Give some options to our people and then u will find which car is success and which is failure.