The reason for the price hike is stated by Maruti Suzuki to be the increase in various input costs (raw materials, etc.) over the past year
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), India’s largest carmaker by sales volume, has announced that it is planning to increase the prices of different models in its lineup. The manufacturer will reveal the updated prices in January 2022, which is when they would come into effect. The reason for the price increment of cars is stated to be the rising input costs.
Since the past year, the costs of raw materials and fuel have been on a major rise. This has increased the manufacturing and transportation costs, respectively, which has forced every carmaker to increase the prices of their vehicles. This year, we had seen multiple price hikes by various auto manufacturers in India, and as per industry experts, next year might be a similar story.
That said, the beginning of a new year has almost always invited a price hike from auto manufacturers in India, so this isn’t a surprise. However, if input costs don’t stabilise, we’ll have multiple prices hikes next year as well, which would be extremely problematic for the automobile industry as it is already dealing with a sales slump.
Maruti Suzuki has also stated that it expects its production to decline by up to 20 per cent in December 2021. The primary reason for that would be the semiconductor chip shortage, which has forced many other manufacturers to cut down on production as well. This could raise the waiting period of Maruti cars by a noticeable margin.
That said, Maruti Suzuki has plans to expand its audience reach in India and boost sales. The Indo-Japanese carmaker has five new SUVs in the pipeline – two compact, one midsize, one large (three-row model), and Jimny – set to arrive starting early next year. Some of these models are being developed in partnership with Toyota.
A midsize MPV is also in the making, which is also being co-developed with Toyota. Apart from these, Toyota is planning to expand its range with rebadged Maruti cars, and speculations suggest that the Belta (rebadged Ciaz) and Rumion (rebadged Ertiga) are set to launch here soon.