Automobile companies to raise prices from January 1

Automobile manufacturers will raise prices from January 1 in view of Rupee devaluation and increase in cost of raw materials.

India's largest passenger car seller Maruti Suzuki had announced on December 10 that it will raise vehicle prices by up to Rs.20,000.

"It (price increase) will be effective from January 1, 2016 and will vary across models. It will be up to Rs.20,000," a Maruti Suzuki spokesperson had said at that time.

A day earlier, on December 9, India's second largest car seller Hyundai Motor India announced vehicle price escalation up to Rs.30,000 across all models from January onwards.

"In these challenging market conditions, we are constrained to consider the price increase on account of factors like increase in cost of components, weak rupee etc," said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president for sales and marketing, Hyundai Motor India.

On December 14, Indian automobile manufacturer Tata Motors declared price hike for its entire passenger vehicle range by up to Rs.20,000 from January, attributing the cause to the impact of various macro-economic factors.

Not to be left behind, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said the price hike would be up to 3 percent on its vehicle range from January while its rival Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) car prices will rise up to Rs.16,000.

Other car manufacturers which announced price hike to offset rising input costs include Nissan, Renault and Skoda. Nissan announced price rise by up to 3 percent on its entire vehicle range and subsidiary Datsun.

Indian subsidiary of French automaker Renault announced a price hike of 3 percent for its vehicles from January.

Similarly, General Motors (GM) India has also announced price rise by up to 2 percent on its vehicle range.

Czech automaker Skoda's vehicles will rise in price by up to Rs.50,000 from January.

Echoing similar justification, luxury car maker BMW escalated prices for its BMW and Mini range of vehicles effective from the new year by 3 percent.

"The increase in prices is in continuation of our endeavour to offer the most aspirational and exceptional products to our customers and on adding more value to their overall ownership experience," said BMW Group India president Philipp Von Sahr in a statement on November 26.

Likewise, all Mercedes Benz cars will be dearer by 2 percent from the same time.

"Price adjustments in the automotive sector are known to occur at least once a year prompted by various reasons ranging from currency fluctuations, duty revisions, to price of raw material, such as steela.," said Collin Noronha, senior research analyst, automotive and transportation practice, Frost & Sullivan.