As automakers milk price-hike benefits, employees get handsome appraisals

Automobile sales of the country's biggest manufacturers have gone up, and companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors, Tata Motors, and Hero MotoCorp are doling out generous pay hikes to their employees, The Economic Times (ET) has reported.

Citing Rajesh Uppal, who is a member of the HR executive board at Maruti Suzuki, the report added, "With the excellent efforts of employees, Maruti Suzuki has performed well in FY23." He said that 1.96 million unit sales were the highest ever in the company's history, and employees deserve the fruit of their good work.

The average salary hike at Maruti Suzuki this year is 14-15 per cent; this includes factors like merit increases and promotion benefits. The increments this year are higher than last year, ET reported.

Another major carmaker in the country, Hyundai Motors, also rewarded 13-16 per cent hikes to its employees. The company's AVP and vertical head-HR told ET that this is one of the best hikes in the industry.

Walter added that Hyundai had introduced a new organisational structure that prioritises role-based compensation and benefits models.

The country's largest motorcycle manufacturer, HeroMotoCorp, also saw a similar trend where a company spokesperson was quoted by ET as saying, "Our annual compensation review process has delivered best-in-the-industry salary increments in FY23."

As business showed positive signs at Tata Motors, appraisals at the company also followed a similar trend. The company gave pay hikes and bonuses on a differentiated basis, and the increments were based on the performance of employees, ET said.

So far, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has not announced the increments for this year. The maker of Thar is likely to do it from August onwards. Increments at M&M are likely to be consistent with the industry standards.