The Hindu : Business : MUL raises M-800 prices, launches Euro versions

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Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005

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Business

MUL raises M-800 prices, launches Euro versions

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 25 . Maruti Udyog today rolled out a Euro-III variant and a new Euro-II version of Maruti 800, sporting a higher price tag, setting at rest the speculation about the phasing out of the entry level car.

The company has priced the Euro-II version of the entry-level model at Rs. 2.09 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi), an increase of Rs. 3,000 over the earlier version.

The Euro-III variant of the car 800 has been priced at Rs. 2.15 lakhs and its deluxe version at Rs. 2.37 lakhs.

"Just when there was a talk about Maruti 800 being phased out, this iconic brand has donned a fresh new look. The new look Maruti 800 is the company's gift to millions of two-wheeler owners in the country looking to upgrade to a car,'' the MUL Managing Director, Jagdish Khattar, said on the occasion.

However, he declined to give the sales target for the new Maruti 800. "As a company, we would not like to make projections for the future. Sales are a function of market demand, and also other factors like production capacity and product mix of each company,'' he said.

A company release said that the launch of Euro-III variant follows enforcement of the new emission norms in 11 cities from April 1.

Incidentally, this is for the first time after several months that Maruti has chosen to raise the price of its entry-level car. In the earlier price revisions, Maruti 800 was left untouched.

The new Maruti 800 (Euro-II), which will be rolled out across the country over the next 10 days, comes with clear headlamps with a headlight levelling mechanism, clear lens rear combination lamps and a new grille.

Maruti 800 is one of the largest selling cars under the Maruti stable. However, in recent months, the Alto has surpassed the sales of the small car fuelling speculation that Maruti would phase out M-800.

Earlier this month, Maruti had launched Euro-III variants of its three existing car models — Wagon R, Baleno and Zen — with higher price tag. Then Mr. Khattar had said that all the 11 car models of MUL, including Maruti 800, would have Euro-III option from the next financial year.

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