Much to the delight of prospective small car buyers, leading manufacturers Hyundai Motor India, General Motors and Maruti Suzuki Limited, on Friday, said they would slash prices by up to Rs 16,000 to pass on benefits from the excise duty cut announced in the Budget.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has proposed to cut excise duty from 16 per cent to 12 per cent on small cars.

“We have decided to pass on the benefit of the excise duty cut to customers on three models—Santro, i10 and the Getz— effective April 1,” a Hyundai official said. General Motors is also cutting he price of its small cars Spark and Aveo U-VA. Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited has also passed on the full benefit of excise duty reduction to customers. The company has announced price reduction in all the six models that qualify for the lower excise benefit: Maruti 800, Omni, Zen, Wagon R, Swift Diesel and Alto — India’s largest selling car.

Tata Motors said it would reduce the prices of its small cars, commercial vehicles, buses and bus chassis but had not decided on the quantum of reduction.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said that it was still evaluating the quantum of price cut, which could be in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,700.

Tyre makers have also decided to pass on the benefits of reduction in CENVAT duty to its consumers by announcing price cuts of up to two per cent. Mr Singhania’s promoted JK Tyre and Mumbai-based Ceat Ltd announced a two per cent reduction in prices of their entire product range with effect from Saturday.