Maruti Udyog Ltd [Get Quote] reported on Thursday a 63.1 per cent increase in net profit for the first quarter ended June 30 at Rs 369.5 crore (Rs 3.69 billion), as compared to Rs 226.4 crore (Rs 2.26 billion) in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Total income (net of excise) during the period under review jumped by 20 per cent at Rs 3,268.7 crore (Rs 32.68 billion) against Rs 2,723.6 crore (Rs 27.23 billion) in the same period a year ago.

Price hike in early August: According to another report from Ludhiana, Maruti has decided to announce fresh price hike, across all models, in the first week of August in view of spiralling input costs.

"We will be announcing the price hike, which has been necessitated by the rising input cost, in the first week of next month," MUL's Commercial Business Head (North) R S Kalsi said but he refused to quote the exact amount of hike planned to be made on all the models.

MUL has also finalised the launch of its new 1.3 litres diesel engine car in the mid-size segment in January 2007.

"We will come out with our new diesel engine model in January 2007. Its launch will definitely help the company in improving its market share in the segment from its current 18-20 per cent," he said.

The company is expecting 25 per cent growth in the northern region market that includes Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttaranchal, NCR and Uttar Pardesh.

"The northern region market is growing at a very handsome pace and therefore, we expect a growth of 25 per cent from this market," said Kalsi.

The Northern region alone constitutes 36 per cent of the company's total market size. To strengthen its dealers' network in the north which currently stands at 110, MUL has decided to start 15 new dealerships within next 6 to 9 months.

"We are going to open 15 new dealerships in the northern region which will be a part of our strategy to provide services at customers' door steps," he said.

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