Maruti Suzuki to raise car prices from Jan. 1

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the nation's biggest carmaker by sales, plans to raise prices of its cars by up to 20,000 rupees ($300), starting Jan. 1, to offset cost increases and unfavourable foreign exchange rates, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

Maruti's move comes after its closest rival, Hyundai Motor Co's Indian unit, said it would raise the price of its cars by up to 30,000 rupees in January.

($1 = 66.7176 rupees)

(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Devidutta Tripathy and Sunil Nair)