Maruti to hike car prices by 4 pct to offset higher taxes

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MRTI.NS), the country's top carmaker by volume, will increase car prices by 4 percent following the government's decision to halt tax breaks to automakers beyond Dec. 31, a company executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

A tax break was first granted in February last year to revive sluggish car sales and later extended until the end of 2014. Automakers had been hoping the concession, amounting to 3-6 percent of the price of a car before the imposition of all duties, to continue in the new year.

'Whatever excise duty hike has happened from the government's side we are passing that on to customers,' said R.S. Kalsi, executive director at Maruti, which is majority owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.T).

The company was planning to increase prices this year to offset rising input costs, but Kalsi said the decision has been deferred because higher excise duty rates have already pushed up prices and another hike would further impact the market.