In less than a month after its divestment, India's biggest carmaker Maruti Udyog Ltd on Tuesday effected a nominal price hike across the board due to rising input costs.

Maruti has increased ex-showroom prices of all its cars with the steepest rise of Rs 1,926 on Maruti 800 while compact cars - Wagon R and Zen - would be expensive by Rs 1,925, market sources told PTI.

The price rise would be with immediate effect.

All the WagonR variants and Zen LX have come into the fold of Rs 1,925 price increase, sources said.

Price of compact cars Alto LX and Alto VX, and Omni has been raised by Rs 554.

All the models of multi-purpose-vehicle Versa, mid-size car Esteem and premium Baleno would be dearer by Rs 353, they said.

The increase in price was anticipated in the wake of growing input costs, especially steel. The company has passed on a small portion of the rising costs to customers, they said.

The reduction in the cost of freight has also been taken into account and it has also been passed on to the customers, they pointed out.  

The prices of aluminium, rubber, and other core manufacturing materials like steel has gone up considerably in the recent past, they said.

The second-biggest car maker, Hyundai Motor, had already announced a price hike.

Maruti posted a 34.5 per cent sales growth to 24,540 units in June 2003 while cumulative (April-June 2003) sales of the company surged by 42.1 per cent to 76,810 units from 54,01 units sold during the corresponding period last year.