MUMBAI (TIP): Automobile manufacturers, on February 19, announced that they would pass on the benefits arising from the cut in excise duty announced in the Interim Budget to customers. The Vote-on-Account Interim Budget 2014-15 announced on Monday had cut excise duty on passenger cars and sports utility vehicles (SUV) by 4 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

Volkswagen reduced prices across models. Prices for Volkswagen Polo have been reduced by Rs.18,000-31,000, Vento by Rs.14,500-27,000 and Jetta by Rs.38,000-51,000. Hyundai Motor India said its price reduction benefit would be applicable to all models from the Eon to Santa Fe. The quantum of benefit will vary from Rs.10,000 to Rs.135,300 across models, a statement said. Nissan India said its price reduction in the range of 4-6 per cent would apply to Micra Active, Micra, Sunny, Evalia, Terrano and Teana.

Mahindra & Mahindra also announced price cuts in its passenger vehicle portfolio ranging from Rs.13,000 to Rs.49,000. A company statement said it would also reduce prices of its premium SUV Rexton by up to Rs.92,000. The new prices will take immediate effect. Maruti Suzuki cut the price of its entry-level Alto hatchback by Rs.8,502, while the maximum reduction of Rs.30,984 was for its top-end variant of the SX4 sedan. It also revised the price of its recently launched Celerio car, lowering it by Rs.13,615.

The price of the Alto K10 was reduced by Rs.11,304 and that of the entry-level variant of Omni was cut by Rs.8,698. The multipurpose vehicle Eeco will become cheaper by Rs.10,881. MSI reduced the price of the entry-level variant of the WagonR hatchback by Rs.12,578 and that of A-Star by Rs.13,482. The price of the compact car Estillo was cut by Rs.12,148 and that of hatchback Ritz by Rs.15,130. Prices of the Swift and DZire models have been lowered by Rs.15,874 and Rs.17,884, respectively.

The company also cut the price of multiutility vehicle Ertiga by Rs.18,747 and that of the SX4 sedan in the range of Rs.16,618-30,984. Most players have welcomed the move by the government to make the product more affordable. In a statement, Kenichiro Yomura, President, Nissan India Operations, said, “The reduction in excise duty is a welcome move towards revival of the Indian automobile industry. We are confident this will make our products more accessible and drive growth across the range.” “We hope this move will help improve the market sentiment in the automotive industry,’’ Arvind Saxena, Managing Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said in a statement.