NEW DELHI: Passenger vehicle (PV) prices will see a substantial hike from January 2024 as carmakers are planning to pass on the rising input prices to the end consumers.
While Maruti Suzuki (MSIL), Tata Motors and Audi India on Monday announced a price hike, other carmakers, and two-wheeler makers, are expected to follow suit in the coming days. Maruti Suzuki, country’s largest carmaker, said owing to inflation and increased commodity prices, they are increasing prices of their models from January 1, 2024. MSIL, however, didn’t mention the quantum of price hikes but said the increase will vary across models.
Similarly, Tata Motors on Monday said it is considering increasing the prices of its passenger and electric vehicles (EVs) in January 2024. The company, which sells a range of passenger vehicles starting with hatchback Tiago to premium SUV Safari priced between Rs 5.6 lakh and Rs 25.94 lakh, however, did not specify the quantum of the proposed hike.
German luxury car maker Audi announced a price increase of up to 2% for its vehicles effective January 1. Balbir Singh Dhillon, head of Audi India, said, “Due to rising supply-chain-related input and operational costs, we have effected a price correction across our model range, maintaining the brand’s premium price positioning.”
It is a general practice that automakers go for a price rise at the beginning of every new year as it helps them reduce inflationary pressure and push sales after festive season when buying activity sees a big drop. Consumers too tend to avoid buying a PV in December as it impacts the resale value.
After three to four hikes in calendar year 2022, the frequency of price hikes slowed down in CY23 as commodity prices stabilised and there was easy availability of semiconductors. Maruti had last hiked the prices of its cars by 0.8% across the model range from April 1. The price hikes will have a maximum impact on entry-level small cars as this segment is highly price-sensitive.