Maruti Suzuki is one of the few manufacturers who are set to increase the price of their vehicles in India from next month due to increasing input costs
India’s biggest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has decided to hike the prices of all the car it currently sells in India, given the rising cost of input. The price increase will vary according to the different models and the company is yet to disclose the increase in price.
Maruti Suzuki sells a range of budget-friendly passenger vehicles in India, ranging from the entry-segment hatch Alto 800 priced at Rs 2.88 lakh (ex-showroom), up to the XL6, the top-end variant of which retails at Rs 11.46 lakh (ex-showroom).
The move might also lead to a rise in sales of Maruti Suzuki cars in the last month of 2019. The industry slowdown this year has adversely affected the carmaker, however, the brand still retained the top spot in terms of sales. Maruti Suzuki managed to sell 1,39,133 cars in November 2019, as against 1,43,890 units it sold in the same month last year. This has resulted in YoY de-growth of 3.3%.
“The cost of company’s vehicles has been impacted adversely due to increase in various input costs. Hence, it has become imperative for the company to pass on some impact of the above additional cost to customers through a price increase across various models in January 2020,” said a spokesperson for the Japanese manufacturer.
Maruti Suzuki recently reached the mark of 2 crore passenger vehicle sales since its inception in 1994 in India. The Indian subsidiary of the Japanese carmaker is the only manufacturer to reach the landmark as of yet.
A few days ago, the Korean carmaker Kia also confirmed that it will be increasing the price of the Seltos compact-SUV starting from January 1, 2020. Similarly, Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar Motor are also planning to hike prices of their products in the Indian market, in order to pass the input costs to the buyers.
On the other hand, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL), along with Honda Cars India confirmed they have no definitive plans of increasing the price of their products next month. However, the BS6 upgradation costs will still be applicable and would have to be borne by the customers.