CHENNAI: Maruti Suzuki India joined a series of auto companies that are raising prices of products across the board this year, with the firm announcing on Friday that it has increased prices of its entire product range between Rs 1,500 and Rs 8,014.
According to a statement issued by the firm, the hike is due to a variety of factors, including rising commodity prices and input costs. A rise in transportation and administrative costs has also contributed to the decision.
“The hike in car prices is because of increase in commodity, transportation and administrative costs,” pointed out the company while revealing the model-wise increase in prices. The company’s mainstay in the small and budget car segment, the Alto 800, will see its price increase by around Rs 1,500 while the S-Cross priced at around Rs 12.03 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) will see an increase of around Rs 8,000, according to sources.
Maruti Suzuki is not alone in its decision. The end of 2016 witnessed almost all major auto-makers announce their intentions to hike product rates across the spectrum.
This included automobile firms like Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nissan, Toyota, Renault, Mercedes-Benz India and Tata Motors. All firms cited rising input costs as the reason, while currency fluctuations had impacted foreign exchange.
“In these challenging year-end market conditions, we are constrained to consider price increase on account of factors like increased input costs, fluctuating exchange rates and increasing marketing expenses,” Hyundai’s senior vice-president, sales and marketing Rakesh Srivastava, had said while announcing an upcoming increase of as much as Rs 1 lakh for various models in its portfolio.
Maruti Suzuki had last hiked prices in August last year, with its compact sport utility vehicle Vitara Brezza becoming more expensive by Rs 20,000 and premium hatchback Baleno by Rs 10,000. On a select range of other models, the price hike was between Rs 1,500 and Rs 5,000.
Maruti expands WagonR portfolio; launches VXi+
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Friday launched a new variant of its hatchback WagonR with additional features, priced between H4.69 lakh and H5.36 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The latest variant VXi+ comes with both automatic and manual transmissions.
The manual trims are priced at H4.69 lakh and H4.89 lakh while the auto gear shift (AGS) versions are tagged at H5.17 lakh and H5.36 lakh.
“The WagonR VXi+ has been introduced to meet customer demands, who have desire for more style, comfort, convenience and advanced safety features,” MSI Executive Director Marketing & Sales R S Kalsi said. The new variant would strengthen the WagonR brand and help to enhance company’s market share, he added. The hatchback continues to be among the country’s top five selling cars. WagonR has sold 1.3 lakh in the April-December period of the 2016-17.