Maruti may cut production if demand remains sluggish

Maruti Suzuki said on Wednesday it may consider production cut if the market does not improve.

The company, which has been negotiating contract manufacturing deal for its A-Star model with Nissan, also expects to start exports for the Japanese car maker by around February-March next year.

Maruti Suzuki India managing director Shinzo Nakanishi said that across the world there has been a slowdown in demand, including China, India and other BRIC countries.

"I hope not but if we are obliged then we will do it," he told reporters here when asked if the company would go for a production cut.

On the company's planned export of the A-Star for Nissan, an agreement on the volume has not been signed as yet but shipment to Europe is "expected by about February-March next year," he said.

"Our focus is on the network stocks. If the network stock is overflowing, then the company would take appropriate measure," he added.

In the April-November period, the company's sales growth witnessed a negative growth of three per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.

Six easy steps to lose weight

Okay, now for the lecture!

This is a glimpse of how we eat empty calories on a daily basis.
The listed food items are in addition to what you normally eat in a day. Often, we eat these items mindlessly, because they are tempting.
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SBI slashes lending, deposit interest rates

Setting the ball rolling for a fresh round of cut in interest rates, country's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday announced a 0.75 per cent cut in its prime lending rate which will be effective from January 1.

SBI's PLR now stands reduced at 12.25 per cent, the bank said in a press release on Saturday.

The rate cut came a day after India's largest housing finance company HDFC reduced its interest rates by 50 basis points for loans of more than Rs 20 lakh for both existing and new customers and introduced a new slab for sub-Rs 20 lakh.

Union bank of India, another leading public sector bank had reduced its deposit rates on Friday, while Bangalore-based state-run lender Canara Bank announced reductions in their deposit and MSME lending rates.

With the country's largest lender reducing the PLR, other leading banks are also expected to follow the leader in the next few days, banking sources said.

The bank also cut deposit rates by 0.25-1 per cent, which will again be effective from January 1, across all maturities.

With the revision, 1-2 year deposit rates will now attract an interest rate of 8.5 per cent as against the earlier 9.5 per cent while deposits having two years to less than 1,000 days maturity will attract a 8.75 per cent (nine per cent), the bank said.

Similarly, the 1000-day deposits special deposit scheme, which had offered 10 per cent rates earlier, will now give nine per cent to investors, SBI said.