Gujarat market: State Bank of Saurashtra, Maruti join hands

Ahmedabad: Maruti Udyog has entered into an alliance with State Bank of Saurashtra (SBS) to try and tap potential customers in the Saurashtra-Kutch belt and other parts of Gujarat.

As part of this tie-up, SBS has announced the slashing of interest rates by 0.5 per cent, from 10.25 per cent, to 9.75 per cent for three-year car loans. SBS chief general manager S K Singh says the reduced rates will be applicable only for Maruti car loans.

This package also includes loans over three years wherein the interest rates will stand reduced from the present level of 11 per cent to10.5 per cent. Thus, the EMI per Rs 1 lakh will henceforth be Rs 1,686,which means a reduction by Rs 30 for a seven-year loan, says Singh.

This is the latest such effort at going in for an exclusive tie-up with a state bank by MUL in a bid to carve out a regional niche for the marketing of its vehicles. Three such recent forays had come in July with Maruti tying up with State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Indore and State Bank of Travancore.

Maruti managing director Jagdish Khattar says his company's production schedule will continue to be adversely affected in September as well, on account of the strike at DCM Engineering, which manufactures up to 70 per cent of Maruti's engine cylinder blocks.