Auto major Maruti Suzuki reported a 29% increase in net profit at Rs 863 crore for the quarter ended September 2014. It was Rs 670 crore in the same period a year ago.

Total sales rose 17.5% to Rs 12,304 crore from Rs 10,468 crore in the September quarter 2013.

Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday announced a significant engine upgrade and a bevy of new features for its top-selling premium hatchback Swift in order to challenge rival Hyundai’s new i20 that has seen strong demand with over 40,000 bookings since its launch in August. At Rs 4.42 lakh (petrol) and Rs 5.56 lakh (diesel), the starting prices for the new Swift is lower by almost Rs 50,000 over the new i20.

The Swift, currently the second top-selling car in the country with average monthly volumes of 17,000 units, will now be around 10% more fuel efficient in both its petrol and diesel versions. In terms of features, it gets push button engine start, electric retractable outer rear-view mirrors, reverse parking sensor and bluetooth connectivity for the audio system. It is also given a new bumper design and alloy wheels, and a new colour — Mysterious Violet.

In India, a small car is always big news. And bigger if it comes from Maruti Suzuki. From the Maruti 800 to the Zen, from the Wagon R to the Alto, and from the Swift to even the Celerio, Maruti has barely failed with its small wonders. Among these models, one car truly stands out—a car which Indian two-wheeler owners aspire to own, a car which has sold over 2.6 million units in India since its introduction 14 years ago, a car which has remained for long the largest selling single model in India—the Alto. In fact, its value-for-money status has ensured the Alto virtually remained unaffected even after the launch, three years ago, of what is perhaps the best entry-level car in India—the Hyundai Eon.

Mumbai, Oct. 23 (PTI): Domestic financial institutions led by state-owned LIC and mutual funds, who together hold around 14.49 per cent in Maruti Suzuki, are likely to firm up their stance on Maruti’s Gujarat plant after the auto major’s shareholders meeting next month.

The meeting is expected to discuss Maruti’s plans to set up a car plant in Gujarat as a fully owned subsidiary of its Japanese parent.

Eight months after India's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, announced plans for a Gujarat unit to be set up as a wholly-owned subsidiary of parent Suzuki, opposition to the move continues to simmer.

Though Maruti later tweaked the proposal to appease shareholders, domestic mutual funds (MFs) weren't convinced. They say they will oppose a special resolution in this regard, which the company is expected to bring to vote in early November.

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, India’s largest passenger vehicle maker, plans to develop a mini crossover—a vehicle built on a car platform and possessing the features of a sports utility vehicle (SUV)—for customers seeking higher ground clearance that allows them to travel in greater comfort on pot-holed city and rural roads.

Maruti, the Indian unit of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp., wants to put on the roads a vehicle that would be among the country’s most affordable in its class, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plan who declined to be named.

The Madras High Court on Friday asked the fair trade watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) not to take any action against luxury car maker BMW, as it (the Court) decided to hear the carmaker's plea along with other car manufacturers’ petitions against the CCI Order.

In August 2014, CCI slapped a combined penalty of Rs 2,554 crore on 14 car makers including BMW (Rs 20.41 crore) for failing to sell spare parts in the open market. The watchdog said it wanted to make the components market more broad based, user friendly and less expensive for consumers.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has countered the charges levelled against it by the consumer affairs ministry, saying that accepting pre-launch bookings for its mid-size Ciaz sedan is in no way an unfair trade practice and that it does not it violate consumer rights.

The booking is completely voluntary for customers and entirely at their discretion. The company accepts a token amount, which is adjusted against the price of the car at the time of purchase. Customers are free to cancel their booking at any stage; in which case, the token booking amount is fully refunded, said a company spokesperson.

Kolkata will see the launch of IMG-Reliance and STAR India's football tournament, Hero Indian Super League, on Sunday (October 12). Besides team owners like Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor, Salman Khan and Abhishek Bachchan and former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, the league has attracted sponsorships from brands across categories.

Most recent, cricketers Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni bought into the Goa FC and Chennai FC teams, respectively.

Maruti Suzuki on Monday launched its most audacious attempt at gatecrashing the mid-sized sedan party, with the Ciaz, priced Rs 6.99-9.80 lakh in India. With this model, the country’s largest carmaker hopes to shrug off its image as a manufacturer of small cars and compete with Honda’s City and Hyundai’s Verna, the leaders in a segment that sells 16,000 cars a month.

Developed at an investment of Rs 620 crore, the most on a car by Maruti Suzuki, the Ciaz will also be exported to West Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. The car is being launched commercially within nine months of the concept being unveiled at the Auto Expo in February. The Ciaz comes strapped with Maruti Suzuki’s 91-bhp, 1.4-litre K-Series petrol and 89-bhp, 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engines. According to the company, the diesel version delivers a fuel efficiency of 26.2 kmpl and the petrol variant of 20.7 kmpl. Maruti Suzuki on Monday said the Ciaz offered 10-12 per cent more room than other mid-sized sedans.

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