Tata Motors to hike commercial vehicle prices by up to 2% from January

Tata Motors Ltd said it would increase prices of its commercial vehicles by up to 2% from January to partly offset a steep rise in input costs

Indian automaker Tata Motors Ltd said on Tuesday it would increase prices of its commercial vehicles by up to 2% from January to partly offset a steep rise in input costs.

The company's third price increase in the commercial segment this year will be applicable across all vehicles, but vary across models and variants, it said in an exchange filing.

"The company has been absorbing a significant portion of the increased costs, but the steep rise in overall input costs has compelled it to pass on some proportion through this minimal price hike," the company said.

While prices of commodities such as steel and aluminium have corrected from highs this year, costs related to building vehicles such as trucks and buses are still elevated, analysts have said.

The Mumbai-based automaker has also raised prices of passenger vehicles four times so far this year.

Passenger vehicle rival Maruti Suzuki said earlier this month it was planning to hike prices in January due to cost pressures, which have increased due to recent regulatory requirements.

Shares of Tata Motors, up 1.3% at 419.4 rupees, were largely steady after the announcement.

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas and Chris Thomas in BengaluruEditing by Vinay Dwivedi)