Tata Motors expects a hike in car prices from April 2010

Tata Motors India's one of the largest car manufacturer has said that there will be a considerable price hike from the month of April as the new emission norms are going to be implemented from the next month in India. Mr Rajiv Dube, Tata Motors passenger car division president said that there will be a price hike across the industry when the new emission norms will be implemented in India. “We cannot say now by how much the price will be hiked, but a hike is definite, as companies cannot absorb the extra cost in meeting the new norms,” Mr Dube added. Tata Motors is all set to launch its new crossover Tata Aria in the country by the month of June this year and it is expected that it will be priced more then Tata Sumo here. “We haven’t announced the price band of this product. But as it is a premium and sophisticated product, it will be priced above the Safari,” Mr Dube added.

The India automobile industry has registered record braking sales in the starting two months of this year and many major car manufacturers including Maruti and Hyundai have registered highest-ever sales figures since they started their operations in the country. The fear of price hike by the end of this quarter played a major roll in these record braking sales.The car prices in India have already been increased as the government has hiked the excise duty by 2 percent. Major car manufacturers including Maruti and Hyundai has increased price of their car models by Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh.