New Delhi: The country's biggest car makers, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Hyundai Motor India, on Wednesday reduced prices across product portfolios to capitalise on excise duty cuts in the Interim Budget and revive sales.
Honda Cars India, Volkswagen, Mahindra & Mahindra and Fiat also announced price cuts. While MSI'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 entire benefit of the excise duty cut is being passed on to customers for the full range of models," MSI said in a statement.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposed the excise duty cuts on February 17 "to give relief to the automobile industry, which is registering unprecedented negative growth."
Annual car sales in India declined for the first time in 11 years in 2013 as the auto industry reeled under a prolonged demand slump due to the economic slowdown. Volkswagen cut prices of its cars in India in the range of Rs 14,500 and Rs 51,000.
Mahindra said the price reduction for its passenger vehicles is between Rs 13,000 and Rs 49,000. The company also lowered prices of its premium SUV, Rexton, by up to Rs 92,000.
Fiat said its cars would be Rs 8,000-12,000 cheaper, depending on the variants.
The company sells the Punto and Linea models in the country. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) said customers would get the full benefit of the excise duty relief across models from Eon to Santa Fe.
"The reduction in excise duty would substantially reduce the prices, making cars more affordable. The quantum of benefit will vary from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,35,300 across all the models," HMIL Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Rakesh Srivastava said.
Chidambaram cut excise duty to 8 per cent from 12 per cent for small cars, scooters, motorcycles and commercial vehicles; 24 per cent from 30 per cent for SUVs; 20 per cent for mid-sized cars from 24 per cent and 24 per cent for large cars from 27 per cent.
