Automotive News

Maruti Udyog will be looking ahead to the new year in an effort to raise the bar with the new Swift diesel and Estilo. The company has announced that they are going to increase the prices of the cars by up to Rs. 12,000. The amount of increase in each model is not known but the maximum should be in the Maruti Swift.

MUL had earlier raised prices in August 2006 and this will be another increase within only 5 months. The company say that the hike in prices is due to the rising input costs and freight rates.

On this news the stock did not react as much as expected but just closed marginally higher at Rs. 885.8 on 15 December.

Maruti Udyog is chalking out their plan to release the diesel version of the popular and virtually one of their best cars on the Indian road at the moment.

The diesel Swift will borrow its 1.3 litre multi engine from their counterparts - Fiat. They are also looking at coming out with a new Esteem within the next year. There were rumors flying around that the Esteem will be discountinued like the Zen, but the sources are now denying this rumor.

The Estilo has also been launched in Delhi and will be rolled out soon in over 20 Indian cities. This car is basically the successor to the Maruti Zen. The Maruti Estilo will also be exported at some point of time, but first the car will need to find its footing here.