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New Delhi, Oct. 26: Maruti Udyog Limited will review prices by year-end, even as the company posted a 39.8 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended September 30.

Maruti has recorded a profit of Rs 367.4 crore for the July-September period against Rs 262.6 crore in the same period last year.

“We will take a call in December for a price review from January,” said Jagdish Khattar, managing director of Maruti. He, however, refused to divulge the quantum of price increase or the models that will be affected.

In August, Maruti increased its prices by Rs 500-5,000. The models, whose prices were hiked included the Alto, the Maruti 800, the Esteem and the Omni. The Swift and the Zen were spared.

In the second quarter, the company’s total income (net of excise) grew 12.5 per cent at Rs 3,540.8 crore from Rs 3,146.8 crore in the same period last year.

Maruti’s sales grew 12.1 per cent at 1,57,683 vehicles against 1,40,543 in July-September 2005.

The company has been witnessing higher realisations as sales of models like the Swift and the new WagonR have been good.

The domestic small car market has been booming. The segment makes up for two-thirds of India’s price-sensitive passenger car market, with sales of 1.1 million last year. It is estimated to double by 2010 as carmakers plan to introduce many more models.

EBIDTA margins in the second quarter were up by 2.4 per cent at 17.6 per cent from 15.2 per cent in the same period last year, said Maruti.

The net profit in the first half of this fiscal was up by 50.6 per cent at Rs 737 crore against Rs 489.1 crore in the corresponding period last year.

JD Power survey

Maruti Suzuki has emerged as the most preferred car company in the country in terms of customer satisfaction for the seventh consecutive year, according to a JD Power Asia Pacific survey. Ford was placed second and Mahindra and Toyota tied at the third place.