GM India not to hike car prices before Budget

The company is ready with electric car and awaiting government policy before its launch

General Motors India on Friday said it would not hike prices before the Budget scheduled later this month. The company is currently evaluating all options of price hike and would take a decision after the Budget, a top company official said.

“We have witnessed a rise in input costs in the recent days. The input costs have risen by 10-20% in the recent days and we have been absorbing the costs till now and we cannot sustain for long. We are evaluating the option of price increase as of now and would take appropriate decision at the right time,” P Balendran, vice president, General Motors India said.

He said the company was considering the possibility of increasing the prices by 1-3%. It will not increase the prices on its latest two models – Chevrolet Sail and Sail U-VA immediately, he said.

The company, which has seen 16% decline in its car sales at 92,435 units in 2012 over the previous year, is optimistic of returning to the 2011 sales level during the current year. In 2011, the company had sold 110,000 units. “The drop in sales last year was in line with the industry trend and we have done comparatively better than the passenger car industry.

In addition to this, we phased out three models last year and there was only one new car launch. However, we will do better in 2013 on the back of three new car launches,” Balendran said.

In October 2012, GM India launched Sail UVA and today it launched Sail sedan version. It will launch the multipurpose vehicle–Enjoy by end of March this year. With the launch of these three new cars, the company hopes to perform better and return to the 2011 sales level, he said.

“We are planning to sell 48,000 units between these three new models this year. We hope the diesel version would contribute to the sales,” he said.

Balendran said the company was also waiting for the clear policy statement from the government on the electric vehicles before launching its electric car.

“We are ready with the model and we have already showcased it. We have two to three types of battery for the car and technology is fine-tuned. As and when the government announces the proper policy and creates the necessary infrastructure, we will launch our car,” he added.