Maruti Suzuki has issued a fresh set of hikes across its models.
Why?
Alongside Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India is confident of transitioning their respective product range before the April 1 deadline.
It has cited inflation and regulatory requirements behind the move.
The hikes will come into effect from April 2023.
Cost pressure
The carmaker has not confirmed the scale of the price increase but has informed that it will vary according to the model.
Maruti Suzuki stated, “The Company continues to witness increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and regulatory requirements.
While the company makes maximum effort to reduce cost and partially offset the increase, it has become imperative to pass on some of the impact through a price increase.”
Both commercial and passenger vehicles affected
“The company has planned this price increase in April, 2023 which shall vary across models,” it added.
It has not specified whether the price hike will affect commercial vehicles or passenger vehicles.
But it’s safe to assume that cars in both segments will bear the brunt.
Other auto companies have been on a price hike spree due to consistent input cost pressures.
BS VI Emission norms
Aside from this, India will be implementing Bharat Stage 6 regulations from next month that require automakers to fit their vehicles with a device to check emissions which translates to extra costs.
Maruti Suzuki India Executive Director Corporate Affairs Rahul Bharti stated that the auto major is fully committed to a cleaner environment and will complete the BS-VI phase-2 transition well in time.
“In fact, out of our total 62 applications, we had transitioned 31 applications to BS-VI phase-2 almost a year ahead of the compliance date,” he added.
He noted that the Maruti Suzuki fleet currently has the least CO2 emission per car among all car manufacturers in the country which will keep getting lower.
Hero MotoCorp
Indian two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp will also raise prices of select models of motorcycles and scooters by around 2% from April 1.
Tata Motors
Tata Motors is set to hike prices of commercial vehicles by up to 5%, its second hike in four months, to ensure its vehicles comply with new emission norms.
This hike, starting from April 1, will be applied across the entire range of commercial vehicles, with the hike varying according to the individual model and variant.
It has also upgraded its passenger vehicle portfolio to conform to stricter emission norms as well.