After a year of roller-coaster ride that had auto companies in the red, the industry could see a pick-up in sales with major manufacturers reducing prices up to a maximum of six per cent on Wednesday.
Following the reduction of excise duty on passenger cars in the Interim Budget, the country’s biggest carmakers Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India (HMI) reduced prices across product portfolios.
Honda Cars India, Volkswagen, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Fiat also announced price cuts.
While Maruti’s price reduction ranges between Rs 8,502 and Rs 30,984 across models, Hyundai slashed prices by between Rs 10,000 and Rs 1,35,300. The petrol variant of Maruti Swift will be cheaper by Rs 15,000-Rs 17,000 and the diesel one about Rs 20,000-Rs 24,000.
“The entire benefit of the excise duty cut is being passed on to customers for the full range of models,” Maruti said in a statement.
Alto hatchback will be cheaper by Rs 8,502, SX4 by a maximum Rs 30,984, Celerio Rs 13,615, Alto K10 Rs 11,304, Omni Rs 8,698, Eeco Rs 10,881, WagonR Rs 12,578, A-Star by Rs 13,482, Estillo Rs 12,148, Ritz Rs 15,130 and Ertiga Rs 18,747.
Hyundai’s Santa Fe will be cheaper by Rs 135,000. Volkswagen reduced the price of Polo by a minimum Rs 18,000 and that of Jetta by a maximum Rs 51,000.
Rakesh Srivastava, HMI senior vice-president (sales and marketing) said that the company will extend the benefit of the excise duty cuts to customers with immediate effect and will also support its dealerships suitably.
M&M reduced prices of its passenger vehicles between Rs 13,000 and Rs 49,000. The company also lowered prices of its premium sport utility vehicle Rexton by up to Rs 92,000.
Remaining carmakers are expected to reduce prices in the next couple of days.
“We are confident that the reduction in prices by Mahindra as well as other auto companies would provide the much- needed fillip to the auto industry,” said Pravin Shah, M&M chief executive (automotive division).
Source: Yahoo!
