The price increase will vary across models, the company said.
In a statement to the bourses, Maruti Suzuki said, “The company has planned to increase the prices of its cars in January, 2024 on account of increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and increased commodity prices.”
The statement added while the company makes maximum efforts to reduce cost and offset the increase, it may have to pass on some increase to the market.The company did not specify the quantum of price hike it plans to undertake across its portfolio.
Maruti Suzuki sells a range of vehicles in the Indian market starting from small car Alto to multi-purpose vehicle Invicto priced between Rs 3.54 lakh to Rs 28.42 lakh (ex-showroom).
The company has hiked vehicles prices twice this year – in April and January 2023. Maruti Suzuki’s sales in the local market have risen by 11.4% to 1,041,154 units between April and October in the current financial year. In October. Maruti Suzuki posted a growth of 20% to report its best-ever monthly sales at 168,047 units. Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer (marketing and sales), MSIL said the festive season has gone well so far helping the company increase its market share by 1.3% to 43% in October.“January onwards, every month has been a best-ever month for the industry, which is a very positive sign. With the semi-conductor crisis fading, automakers have been able to increase production which helped the industry report its highest-ever sales for any month in October”, he said.
Separately, German luxury carmaker Audi too said it will hike vehicle prices by up to 2% in the new year following an increase in input costs. “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. The price correction aims to ensure sustainable growth for Audi India and our dealer partners, and we will ensure that the price hike’s impact is as minimal as possible for customers”, Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head, Audi India, informed.
Audi India reported a growth of 88% to sell 5,530 units in the first nine months of the ongoing calendar year. Dhillon added achieving profitability through a sustainable business model is a critical part of Audi India’s strategy, necessitating the upward revision in prices.
Other carmakers are likely to announce price hikes too shortly, following market leader Maruti Suzuki Monday stating it would be raising prices from January. Apart from factoring in the rise in input costs, automakers also tend to announce intent to hike prices in the new year to spur sales and liquidate stocks available in the channel at year-end.