BMW may hike prices in Jan to offset impact of weak rupee against euro: CEO

CEO Brar noted that the company was not considering raising prices with the new GST rates coming into effect, but the weakening of the rupee has put a lot of pressure on the profitability

German luxury carmaker BMW is looking to hike vehicle prices from next month as it aims to offset the impact of the weakened rupee against the euro, company's President and CEO Hardeep Singh Brar said on Thursday.

The company had earlier announced to increase prices by up to 3 per cent from September 1 this year, citing the adverse impact of continued forex fluctuation and global supply chain dynamics.

BMW currently sells a range of luxury cars and SUVs, including electric vehicles, starting with the 2 Series Gran Coupe priced at ₹45.3 lakh and the XM tagged at ₹2.54 crore, in the Indian market.

"Forex fluctuation is a big dampener. We were looking at somewhere about 93 to 95 (rupee against euro) this year, but it is actually around 103 to 105, so it's about 10 per cent deterioration versus our expectation. So that puts a lot of pressure on pricing and profitability," Brar told PTI.

He noted that the company was not considering raising prices with the new GST rates coming into effect, but the weakening of the rupee has put a lot of pressure on the profitability.

"The Euro has been extremely unfavourable. The 10 per cent deterioration is really putting a lot of pressure on our bottom line. So, considering that we have to look at the price increase. It could come in January," Brar said.

"We are being forced, otherwise, there were no plans. Given the forex situation, it is really becoming difficult to sustain at these price levels," he added.

Mercedes-Benz India announced earlier this year that it is looking to increase prices early next year in order to offset the impact of a weakened rupee against the euro.

The rupee's exchange rate has weakened against various currencies, the dollar and the euro.

On Thursday, the rupee plunged 54 paise to an all-time low of 90.48 against the US dollar in intra-day trade after reports surfaced that the India-US trade deal is likely by March 2026.

Forex traders said the rupee fell to a new all-time low of 90.48 after Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran reportedly said the India-US trade deal is likely to be inked by March.

Moreover, prevailing risk-averse market sentiment, compounded by strong US dollar demand from importers, dented investor sentiment.