Maruti Udyog: Eight new models in the next three years

India’s leading automaker Maruti Udyog has said in a statement that they are planning to launch eight new cars in the next three years.

The company had earlier plans to launch just around 5 new models by 2010. Maruti is planning to impress the Indian customer by launching exciting models. The first of these is likely to be the Baleno replacement based on Suzuki SX4.

Market sources further claim that the company is working on three-box version of the Swift. This could be a possible replacement for the aging Esteem.

Manish Mathur, principal with consultant firm AT Kearney spoke about the Indian automobile market: “Many Indians prefer three box cars since it is a higher value proposition in terms of space and status”.

With Maruti Swift Diesel and the Zen Estilo already impressing the Indian customer, Maruti has a lot more to offer to us in the coming years.

Maruti Udyog: Eight new models in the next three years

India’s leading automaker Maruti Udyog has said in a statement that they are planning to launch eight new cars in the next three years.

The company had earlier plans to launch just around 5 new models by 2010. Maruti is planning to impress the Indian customer by launching exciting models. The first of these is likely to be the Baleno replacement based on Suzuki SX4.

Market sources further claim that the company is working on three-box version of the Swift. This could be a possible replacement for the aging Esteem.

Manish Mathur, principal with consultant firm AT Kearney spoke about the Indian automobile market: “Many Indians prefer three box cars since it is a higher value proposition in terms of space and status”.

With Maruti Swift Diesel and the Zen Estilo already impressing the Indian customer, Maruti has a lot more to offer to us in the coming years.

Maruti set to drive in a new sedan by May

Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) is driving afresh into the sedan car segment in India after Esteem and Baleno. And to start with, the Japanese auto giant is rolling out a new sedan SX4 in the Indian market by April-end or May.

To be showcased at the Geneva Auto show — starting March 8 — the all new sedan will be manufactured at SMC's Indian subsidiary Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) and will be sold in India under the Maruti Suzuki brand. This is also SMC's first sedan in China where it is being manufactured locally and will be sold under the Suzuki brand.

The sedan will be positioned in the A3 segment, which constitutes 15% of the passenger car market in India and a growing chunk of the same in China.

According to market sources, the new sedan will be petrol driven and will be priced between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 8 lakh, which means it will compete with mainly Lancer of Hindustan Motors, Verna of Hyundai Motors India and City of Honda Siel Cars.

MUL is expected to initially produce 2000-3000 units at its fourth plant in Manesar and gradually scale up production once the demand picks up. Till November 2006, MUL had two sedans — Esteem and Baleno — under its brand. But with the automaker announcing the phasing-out of Baleno from the market last year, it was left with just Maruti Esteem.

For SMC, its SX4 sedan will be the second car for the global market after Swift.

Maruti ready with Baleno's replacement

Maruti is ready with the replacement of its discontinued sedan Baleno and is showcasing the same at Geneva Motor Show which opened on Thursday. Codenamed SX4 Sedan, this car is expected to hit the streets in India within three months.

Along with SX4 - which the initial photographs show to be a bold and muscular car with a high stance - Maruti is also readying a three-box version of the highly popular premium compact car Swift, to be launched this year to put in place its lower end sedan portfolio in place.

SX4 is Suzuki's second world car after the Swift, and will be unveiled at the high-profile auto show.

"After the success of Swift and the new Zen, the SX4 sedan is Maruti's bold step forward," said an auto expert who has seen the sedan overseas. "The SX4 is Suzuki's showpiece as it transforms from a global compact car giant to a complete car maker across segments".

Car dealers bank on price hike

After a two-month dip in the sale of automobiles, March may see a boom in business for auto dealers, said industry watchers.

Contrary to customer anticipation of reduction in car prices in the budget, auto majors are hinting at a price hike from April.

In addition to the existing 2 per cent levy, the finance minister also announced a cess of one per cent on all taxes of corporates and individuals to fund secondary and higher education for the financial year starting April 1, 2007. The expected deduction in certain taxes for the automobile sector did not happen. Therefore, most automobile manufacturers have announced a hike in prices, though the extent or model range is yet to be declared. However, said experts, a window period during March will probably be allowed by auto players to allow customers the pre-budget price advantage.

“We were planning to buy a family car. I was advised to wait for the budget after which prices are expected to fall. Now, I think we should hurry before prices rise,” said Sumit Das, a resident of Kadma.

This attitude among car buyers has come as a welcome relief after city auto dealers registered a dip of nearly 15-30 per cent in the two months of pre-budget sales.

“We have had a 15 per cent dip in the past two months for all our vehicles,” said Girish Mandal, general manager of Pebbco Motors, who are dealers for Maruti Suzuki.

High-end cars also registered low sales. “This has hit us hard as the market for high-end cars is more price-sensitive than for small cars,” said an auto dealer.

R.K. Nayak, manager in a Tata Motors dealership firm, said: “It is the high-end segment such as sports utility vehicles that was worst hit with about 30 per cent reduction in sales during February.” Sales of small cars such as Indica have only been hit by about five per cent, he added.

Cars ranging from Santro, costing Rs 3,00,000, to upmarket cars, costing up to Rs 17,00,000, have undergone a 16 per cent dip in the pre-budget sales, said P.K. Hazra, senior manager of sales in Fairdeal Hyundai.

Customer awareness has also contributed to low sales, said dealers. “Now customers wait and watch till the budget. The range of cars is also vast, so we are dealing with mature customers,” he said.

An additional factor that added fuel to fire is superstition. Members of many communities do not buy metal before Sankranti. Hence the auto companies lost out on business in the first half of January, added the dealers.

Maruti sold 62,999 vehicles in February

India’s leading automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki has released its sales figures for the month of February. The company continues to lead the sales chart.

Maruti sold as many as 62,999 vehicles in February. This is up 53 per cent from 41,095 units a year earlier.

Out of these, the company sold 59,095 units in the domestic market. This figure is up 61 per cent from 36,608 units a year earlier in the same period.

The export figures for the company are however down. They exported 3,904 last month compared to 4,487 units a year earlier.

The company has also announced that they are going to raise the prices of their cars from March 15 due to implications from budget.

Auto makers to raise prices marginally

Auto makers plan to raise prices marginally to offset an additional tax proposed by the government to raise funds for education.

Top Indian car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd said on Wednesday it would raise prices of its vehicles from March 15. It did not specify the extent of the increase or say which models it would apply to.

"In the run-up to the budget there was speculation that certain taxes or duties may come down," Maruti said, referring to an expectation that excise duty on passenger vehicles might have been cut.

"Owing to that, several customers postponed purchase of new cars till after the budget. In light of this, the company has decided to defer the hike to allow these customers to purchase cars at pre-budget prices," it said.

In its budget for the fiscal year starting April 1, the government said it would impose a levy of 1 percent on all taxes to fund secondary and higher education, in addition to the existing 2 percent levy which raises funds for basic education.

Maruti, a unit of Suzuki Motor Corp last raised prices on some models by up to Rs 12,000 ($271) on Feb 1.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the top utility vehicle maker, will raise prices by Rs 1,000-2,000, the paper quoted Pawan Goenka, President of Mahindra's automotive unit, as saying.

A spokeswoman for Hyundai Motor India Ltd, a unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co, said there would be 'a modest price increase'.

Shares in Maruti rose 2.4 per cent to Rs 860, helped also by strong February sales, while shares in Tata Motors gained 2.3 per cent to Rs 802 in a slightly firm Mumbai market.

Auto makers to raise prices marginally

Auto makers plan to raise prices marginally to offset an additional tax proposed by the government to raise funds for education.

Top Indian car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd said on Wednesday it would raise prices of its vehicles from March 15. It did not specify the extent of the increase or say which models it would apply to.

"In the run-up to the budget there was speculation that certain taxes or duties may come down," Maruti said, referring to an expectation that excise duty on passenger vehicles might have been cut.

"Owing to that, several customers postponed purchase of new cars till after the budget. In light of this, the company has decided to defer the hike to allow these customers to purchase cars at pre-budget prices," it said.

In its budget for the fiscal year starting April 1, the government said it would impose a levy of 1 percent on all taxes to fund secondary and higher education, in addition to the existing 2 percent levy which raises funds for basic education.

Maruti, a unit of Suzuki Motor Corp last raised prices on some models by up to Rs 12,000 ($271) on Feb 1.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the top utility vehicle maker, will raise prices by Rs 1,000-2,000, the paper quoted Pawan Goenka, President of Mahindra's automotive unit, as saying.

A spokeswoman for Hyundai Motor India Ltd, a unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co, said there would be 'a modest price increase'.

Shares in Maruti rose 2.4 per cent to Rs 860, helped also by strong February sales, while shares in Tata Motors gained 2.3 per cent to Rs 802 in a slightly firm Mumbai market.

Maruti Feb sales up 53 pct on year

India's biggest car maker, Maruti Udyog Ltd., said on Thursday it sold 62,999 vehicles in February, up 53 percent from 41,095 units a year earlier.

Maruti said it sold 59,095 units in the domestic market, up 61 percent from 36,608 units a year earlier. Its exports fell 13 percent to 3,904 units from 4,487 units a year earlier.

Maruti, a unit of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., said on Wednesday it would raise prices of its vehicles from March 15. It had raised prices by up to 12,000 rupees from Feb. 1.

Rival For Maruti?

Nissan will focus on compact cars -- the biggest market in India -- where Maruti, part of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., dominates with models such as the Maruti-800 and Alto.

Renault officials said the French firm would initially stick to products under the Logan platform, but may expand that to include other models.

The new plant will also have a powertrain facility to supply the local market and may at some stage consider exports.

Officials did not give details of the plant's powertrain capacity.

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build a plant by 2010 near its unit in Bangalore, concentrating on cheaper, smaller cars, a newspaper reported earlier this month.

The facility will aim to produce 100,000 cars a year, roughly doubling the firm's capacity in India, it said.

Tata has a deal with Italy's Fiat SpA to build more than 100,000 cars and 200,000 engines and transmissions together in India from next year.

Nissan has a separate agreement under which Maruti is to build 50,000 compact cars under Nissan's badge, mostly for export to Europe from 2008.

Mahindra also has a separate pact with U.S. firm Navistar International to make trucks and buses in India this year.

Nissan shares closed up 1 percent, Renault was up 0.4 percent and Mahindra added 0.2 percent.

Maruti to raise prices from March 15

Top Indian car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd said on Wednesday it would raise prices of its vehicles from March 15, after the government said it would impose an additional tax levy to raise funds for education.

In its budget for the fiscal year starting on April 1, the government said it would impose a levy of 1 per cent on all taxes to fund secondary and higher education, in addition to the existing 2 per cent levy which raises funds for basic education.

Maruti, a unit of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said the new levy was the reason for the price rises.

It said it was not raising prices immediately so consumers could buy cars at pre-budget prices, but did not specify the extent of the increase or say which models it would apply to.

"In the run-up to the budget, there was speculation that certain taxes or duties may come down," Maruti said in a statement, referring to an expectation that excise duty on passenger vehicles might have been cut.

"Owing to that, several customers postponed purchase of new cars till after the budget. In light of this, the company has decided to defer the hike to allow these customers to purchase cars at pre-budget prices," it said.

Maruti, which makes the popular Alto and Swift hatchbacks, last raised prices on some of its models by up to Rs 12,000 on Feb 1 to help offset higher costs.

Shares in Maruti ended down 5.4 per cent at Rs 839.70 in a Mumbai market that fell 4 per cent. The news of the price rises was released after the market close.