Tata Motors PV to hike prices in coming weeks amid rising costs: CEO

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (TMPVL) will hike prices in the "coming weeks" in the wake of rising commodity cost putting pressure, according to its Managing Director & CEO, Shailesh Chandra.

While Maruti Suzuki India is reviewing the situation for a possible price hike, Hyundai Motor India has already undertaken a price increase in January, mainly on the Venue model.

"Yes, we have been facing pressure on the commodity side for nearly a year now. Still we see pressure on the precious metal side, copper and so on. Overall, if you see the impact of commodity price increase, it has been for us about 2 per cent plus of our revenues," Chandra said in a quarterly earnings call.

 

He was responding to a query on whether the company was planning to hike prices of its vehicles due to rising cost of commodities.

Reiterating that the company is going to increase prices, Chandra said,"We will be able to announce this in the coming weeks."  He, however, did not elaborate the details of the possible quantum of price hikes.

Last week, car market leader Maruti Suzuki India had said it will review a price increase due to rising commodity costs with company Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Partho Banerjee stating that the increase in prices of precious metals has been 'phenomenal'.

While the company has been working to see how much it can absorb the cost increase due to commodities, Banerjee had said," After a certain extent, if we are unable to somehow accommodate the cost increase, we need to pass it on to our customers."  Similarly, Hyundai Motor India Ltd Head - Investor Relations, Hariharan KS said the company has already undertaken a price increase in January, mainly on the Venue model.

"Going forward again, we will be continuously monitoring this commodity trend, because we are in times of huge volatility in all these precious metals and commodities," he added.