Maruti cars to go dearer by Rs 34,000 on infra cess

Ex-showroom prices of models would go up in range of Rs 1,441 to 34,494 across range

Maruti Suzuki, country's largest carmaker, said it will raise prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 34,494 to pass on the impact of infrastructure cess announced in the Union Budget.

Following the infrastructure cess on automobiles in Union Budget 2016-17, ex-showroom prices of models would go up in the range of Rs 1,441 to Rs 34,494 across the range, the company with a 46% market share said in a statement.

Maruti sells a range a vehicles starting from entry-level car Alto 800 to premium crossover S-Cross, priced between Rs 2.54 lakh and Rs 11.69 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

As Smart Hybrid models (Ciaz SHVS and Ertiga SHVS) are exempt from the infrastructure cess, there is no change in the prices of these models.

On Wednesday, German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz announced its plan to raise prices of its entire product portfolio by up to Rs 5 lakh from March 15. Tata Motors hiked the prices of its passenger vehicles in the range of Rs 2,000 and Rs 35,000.

The government has announced 2.5% cess on diesel vehicles of length not exceeding 4 meter and engine capacity not exceeding 1,500 cc while higher engine capacity and SUVs and bigger sedans will attract a cess of 4%.

There will be a cess of 1% on petrol/ LPG/CNG driven vehicles of length not exceeding 4 meter and engine capacity not exceeding 1,200 cc.

More companies are likely to announce the price hike following the imposition of cess. The industry is apprehensive that the price increase will moderate growth in sales of passenger vehicles.