Maruti roped in the father-son duo of Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan to push the sales of its multi-utility vehicle -- Versa.

Maruti has decided to increase its prices by the end of December; the increase will come into effect from January.

It recently entered into a new five-year wage settlement with its employees union, aimed at drastically cutting costs and simplifying the wage structure.

As per the new settlement, to be effective from November 1, the annual wage growth of employees has come down to 3.5 per cent from 9 per cent earlier.

Maruti undertook a restructuring of its board by inducting three independent directors -- Kumaramangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya V Birla Group; Amal Ganguli, former chairman, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (India); and Pallavi Shroff, senior partner, Amarchand and Mangaldas and Suresh A Shroff and Company -- and former MUL managing director R C Bhargava as part-time director. Later, HLL Chairman Manvinder Singh 'Vindi' Banga joined as the fourth independent director.

Among its achievements, Maruti, for the fourth time in a row, topped the survey conducted by J D Power, which researches customer satisfaction and provides consulting services in the automotive, information technology and finance industries.

Jagdish Khattar, managing director, Maruti Udyog Limited, presents a key of the newly launched car Versa to Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Photograph: Saab Press