Car prices may rise up to Rs 25,000 due to higher commodities costs

Car manufacturers to increase the prices by next month The automobile companies are speculated to increase the car prices by 2 to 3 per cent in the coming month. It is expected hatchbacks such as Maruti Swift, Honda Jazz and Hyundai i20 can witness a hike of Rs 10,000. However, the premium sedan segment which offers cars like Skoda Superb or Toyota Camry is expected to raise its price by Rs 25,000.

S Maitra, Managing Executive Officer- (supply chain) Maruti Suzuki said that in the present scenario the car prices have to be increased due to rise in commodity prices such as rubber, steel etc. However, the suppliers are asking for higher prices. Maruti Suzuki India increased its car prices by 2.4 per cent in January in effect to the accelerating production cost. The automobile sector observed a major rise in its prices because of the high prices of the commodities like aluminium, steel, copper, rubber, nickel has raised to 20 to 45 per cent from November to February when compared to the same time last year. Due to the increasing input cost, the car companies like Maruti Suzuki registered a downturn of 20 per cent in its net profit from October to December period.

As per a top official of Hyundai Motors India said that the company has not taken any final decision but the pressure of increasing cost is immense. While, Sandeep Singh Deputy Managing Director- (marketing) at Toyota Kirloskar said that the company will evaluate the current price on the basis of three months, although any price hike is expected to pen in the coming month. Apart from the expected price hike, the Indian government might also increase the excise duty by 2 per cent. The government wishes to raise the excise duty to bring down the auto sector to the pre stimulus level of December 2008.

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