NEW DELHI/CHENNAI : India motorcycle major Bajaj Auto on Wednesday joined the long list of automobile companies that have announced plans to increase prices of their products, stating that it will hike rates of its motocycles by up to Rs 1,500 from January.
As in the case of other automobile manufacturers, Bajaj too has cited rising cost of raw materials and other inputs and the additional costs of upgrading its entire range of products to emissions norms equivalent to BS-IV, as the industry has been instructed to do.
“All two-wheeler manufacturers in the country are trying to be BS-IV compliant by April next year. We want to be the first ones to transition to the next emission levels,” Bajaj Auto Ltd President (Motorcycle) Eric Vas said. While Bajaj has already brought in BS-IV compliance in some of its products, the company expects to convert the rest of the product lines to next level of emission norms by middle of next month, Vas pointed out.
“As a consequence of shifting to BS-IV norms we will be hiking the prices of our bikes between Rs 700 and Rs 1,500, depending upon specific models, from next month,” he elaborated.
Vas also admitted that other factors were playing a role in the planned price hike. As has been seen across the industry, input costs have gone up due to the firming up of oil and commodity prices. “The price hike is due to the transition to BS4 and also to accommodate increase in raw material costs as well. The hike shall not affect recently launched products like the Dominar 400,” Vas said. As of now, India only follows BS-III emission norms for two-wheelers. However, from April 2016, all new two-wheeler models have started complying with the next emission norm standard — BS-IV. Existing models would have to comply with BS-IV emission norms from April 2017.
Experts point out that while the quantum of the price hike is not very high, it could impinge on the demand that has already been severely hit post the demonetisation of old high denomination notes and the resulting cash crunch. Other auto majors like Hyundai Motor India, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, Tata Motors, Mercedes Benz and Isuzu have also announced price hikes.