Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz And Honda Hike Car Prices in India

Maruti Suzuki hikes car prices. Here are the other manufacturers who are making their cars more expensive.

The new Maruti Dzire comes in 14 variants.

(Photo: The Quint)

Country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday, hiked the prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 6,100 in order to partially offset increase in commodity and distribution costs and adverse foreign exchange rates.

The price change varies across models and is up to Rs 6,100 (ex-showroom Delhi), the company said in a statement.

The new prices are effective from Thursday itself, it added.

MSI sells a range of vehicles from entry level Alto 800 to mid-sized sedan Ciaz. These were priced between Rs 2.51 lakh and Rs 11.51 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) before the hike.

The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift is a much-improved package, but retains the Swift’s characteristics. (Photo: The Quint)

Earlier this month, MSI Senior Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) RS Kalsi had said the company has been analysing the adverse movement of commodity prices which were going towards the higher side.

Besides, the foreign exchange rate had impacted the company adversely, while the fuel prices too have increased, adding to the logistics costs, he added.

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz also announced it would hike prices of its vehicles across models by up to 4 per cent from September.

Other companies such as Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai and Honda Cars India have also announced price hikes from this month, citing rising input cost.

Mercedes Benz

Mercedes-Benz GLC 220d. Image used for representational purpose only.(Photo: Motorscribes)

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz on Thursday, 16 August said it will hike prices of its vehicles across models by up to 4 per cent from September to offset adverse impacts of rising input costs and upward forex movement.

The rising inflation due to geo-political dynamics, coupled with rising input costs and increasing forex rates has been exerting significant pressure on overall operations, Mercedes-Benz India said in a statement.

While the rupee has depreciated by more than 5 per cent against the Euro in last eight months, the repo rate has gone up by 0.5 per cent in last couple of months, it added.

The combination of all these factors led Mercedes-Benz India to upwardly revise the prices of its entire model range and also the retail finance rates.

Mercedes Benz statement

Roland Folger, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, with the AMG GLS63 (left) and the AMG G63 SUVs. Image used for representational purpose.(Photo: Mercedes-Benz India)

The upward revision of the price across the entire model range will be effective from 1 September, 2018, and would be up to 4 percent depending on the model, the company said.

Commenting on the step, Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Roland Folger said, "Considering the rapid depreciation of the rupee against the major currencies in last few days, we were left with fewer options, but to make some necessary price adjustments to our product range at the moment." A steady rise in input costs against the backdrop of an unfavourable forex rate and high inflationary cost together, have had a significant impact in the recent past, he added.

Mahindra

Utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today said it plans to increase prices of its passenger vehicles by up to Rs 30,000 from next month in order to offset impact of rising commodity prices.

The new Mahindra XUV500. Image used for representation.(Photo Courtesy: Mahindra and Mahindra)

The company plans to increase the prices of its passenger vehicles by up to Rs 30,000, or 2 per cent, and will be effective from August, M&M said in a statement.

"With the ongoing increase in commodity prices, we plan to take a price hike of up to 2 percent in some models," M&M's President Automotive Sector Rajan Wadhera said.

The company sells a range of passenger vehicles, including XUV 500, Scorpio, TUV 300 and KUV 100.

Earlier this month, Tata Motors had also announced that it would hike passenger vehicle prices across models by up to 2.2 percent from August to offset increased input costs.

Honda

The 2018 Honda Amaze comes in 12 variants. Photo: The Quint

Honda Cars also, in July announced a hike in prices of all its models, starting 1 August. The price hike will range from ₹ 10,000 to ₹ 35,000. According to NDTV, the company sited the price hike to an increase in custom duty and increasing input and freight costs. The newly launched Honda Amaze will also be affected with the hike in prices, letting go of the introductory price the company had put with the launch of the compact sedan.

Hyundai

Hyundai announced in May that it will be increasing the prices of its cars by 2 percent, not affecting their latest Creta facelift. The cost of the other cars went up 2 percent, starting June 2018.

Hyundai Creta 2018. Image used for representational purpose.(Photo: Hyundai India)

This was the second time the Korean manufacturer has increased the prices of its cars this year. In January also, Hyundai car prices went up by another 2 percent after increasing them in September 2017, after the GST cess was revised.

(With inputs from PTI)