Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s premium Glanza hatchback has driven past the 100,000-unit sales milestone in the domestic market. The Glanza is intrinsically the rebadged Baleno, which Maruti Suzuki India manufactures at Suzuki Motor Corp’s plant in Gujarat for Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
Launched on June 8, 2019, the Glanza has, till end-March 2023, sold a total of 108,773 units (see data table below). The Glanza gave Toyota a successful market entry into what essentially was a new segment for the Japanese carmaker in India.
Despite being a totally badge-engineered version of the Baleno with no differentiation at all (except for the badges), the fact that the first-generation Glanza drew 24,380 customers in its first 10 months of sales in FY2020 proved just how alluring the Toyota brand is. Importantly, the Glanza helped draw a fair number of first-time Toyota buyers, especially in Tier 2 and 3 markets across the country. It is understood that consumer-pulling factors included Toyota’s ease of service, roadside assistance and warranty.
After the launch of the second-gen Glanza in March 2022, Toyota Kirloskar Motor entered the CNG market with the Glanza CNG in November 2022.
Second-gen Glanza and CNG power sales in FY2023
FY2021’s sales of 22,530 units and FY2022’s 22,097 units meant the Glanza was among the many cars in India impacted by Covid-induced loss of sales. That trend changed in FY2023 with the launch of the new Glanza at the fag end of FY2022.
Following the launch of the second-gen Maruti Baleno, Toyota Kirloskar Motor rolled out the second-generation Glanza in March 2022. Compared to the original model and to differentiate it from the Baleno (which is India’s best-selling premium hatchback), TKM gave the new Glanza different frontal styling including the headlights, grille and bumper, as well as different alloy wheels.
The new Glanza is currently available in nine variants, with pricing starting at Rs 769,000 for the base E variant (on-road Delhi) through to the top-end V A/T, equipped with all the bells and whistles and priced at Rs 11.37 lakh.
The new Glanza comes powered by Suzuki’s new-generation, K12C, 1.2-litre, Dual Jet engine that comes with an idle start-stop system and develops 89hp. Inside, the Glanza gets a beige-and-black dual-tone cabin theme compared to the Baleno’s blue-black treatment albeit has the same features like the 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, cruise control, a head-up display and flat-bottom steering wheel. Safety equipment gets a bump up with six airbags and ESC. TKM has given the new Glanza up to five years or 220,000km extended warranty.
Eight months after the launch of the second-gen Glanza, in November 2022, TKM entered the CNG (compressed natural gas) market with the Glanza CNG and the Urban Cruiser Hyryder. Clearly, the move has paid off because sales have risen smartly in FY2023. The 39,766 units sold in FY2023 constitute a smart 80% year-on-year growth. This also means the Glanza accounted for 23% of TKM’s total PV sales of 174,015 units in FY2023, the company’s best-ever market performance in a decade.
The Toyota Glanza CNG variant, available in S and G trims with manual transmission, is priced at Rs 969,000 and Rs 10.82 lakh (on-road Delhi) respectively. The Glanza CNG, which is powered by the same 1.2-litre petrol engine in the standard Glanza and the Baleno, is equipped with a five-speed manual transmission powertrain. In petrol-only mode, the engine develops 90hp and 113Nm torque; in CNG mode, the power output drops to 77hp and 98.5Nm. Toyota claims that Glanza CNG delivers fuel efficiency of 30.61km/kg.
In terms of market rivals, other than the Baleno, the Glanza goes head to head with the Tata Altroz (which also received CNG power recently) and the Hyundai i20. Though the Glanza’s sales in FY2023 were a fifth of the Baleno’s 202,901 units, they prove that demand for a quality product and a snazzy hatchback like the Glanza remains strong.
(With inputs from Mayank Dhingra)
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