Suzuki may cut prices

Suzuki Motor Corp., facing growing threats to its 50 per cent share of India’s car market, may cut the price of its cheapest car in the country to counter Tata Motor’s proposed Rs 1,00,000 ($2,500) car.

“We will have to do at least that,” Mr Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director of Suzuki’s local unit, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said in an interview at the company’s head office in Hamamatsu, Japan, on Thursday. Suzuki’s cheapest car in India, the Maruti 800, now costs Rs 1,92,124 in New Delhi showrooms.

Cutting prices may help Suzuki maintain dominance in its biggest market as the company faces greater competition from Tata and foreign rivals including General Motors Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co.