King of India's car makers gives in to a weak rupee

Maruti Suzuki announces price increases for all models by up to Rs 10,000

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest car maker, on Wednesday said it would increase the prices of its entire range of models by up to Rs 10,000 from October first week, mainly due to the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar. “We have been wanting to raise the price for some time, as our input costs went up severely, mainly on account of the weakening of the rupee. However, the market was not conducive (to an increase). Now, it has become inevitable,” Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said.

The quantum of increase will vary according to the models and fuel specifications and will be effective from the first week of October, he added. “The amount of price hike will vary between Rs 3,000 and Rs 10,000. It will be applicable to all our models,” Pareek said.     

The prices of Maruti’s vehicles manufactured in India start from Rs 2.35 lakh and go up to Rs 10.21 lakh. These are by the company’s website and for ex-showroom, Guwahati. Maruti had last hiked prices in January for all its vehicles by up to Rs 20,000 to offset the pressure due to the weakening rupee. In the last few months, the rupee has devalued drastically and hit a life-time low of below 68.85 against the dollar. However, it started gaining after Raghuram Rajan joined as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and announced a slew of measures.

Earlier, this month, Hyundai and General Motors decided to increase vehicle prices by up to Rs 20,000 to offset the impact of the rupee depreciation and rising input costs. Tata Motors said it planned to increase prices of its passenger and commercial vehicles by 1-1.5 per cent, depending on the model (that is, petrol or diesel). Toyota Kirloskar Motor had announced an increase in prices of its key models by up to Rs 24,000 with effect from September 21 to partly offset higher cost of raw materials and the rupee depreciation.