Renault Considering Price Hike

Taking a leaf out of other manufacturers’ books, Renault India is mulling increasing prices across its range of products in the country. The reason being cited by the company, as is the case with its competitors, is rising input costs.

"Yes, we will be increasing the prices as input costs have gone up. We are currently evaluating the period as when to undertake the exercise," Sumit Sawhney, Renault India operations country CEO and managing director, told PTI when asked about the company’s plan to increase prices.

However the price rise is not expected to be too big to upset customers’ plans to buy cars during the ongoing festive season. "It is generally in the range of 1-2 per cent," said Sawhney when asked about the quantum of the price rise.

Renault currently sells no less than five different products in India, ranging from the Kwid hatchback, priced at Rs 2.64 lakh, to the Duster SUV, starting from Rs 13.77 lakh (both prices, ex-showroom, Delhi). 

The Kwid, however, has emerged as the most successful product for the French carmaker in India. It helped the company register close to 600 per cent YoY growth last month and is expected to carry the momentum till well past Diwali despite the price hike. 

Apart from Renault, Tata Motors is also said to be contemplating revising its prices to counter the steep input costs. Elsewhere, Mahindra & Mahindra has already hiked the prices of some of its passenger and small commercial vehicles by up to 1 per cent from this month, while Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki have also added another Rs 20,000 to the price tags of their products across portfolios.