Budget impact: Audi India to hike prices by up to 4 percent

German luxury carmaker Audi, today, announced a price hike of up to 4 percent across its model line-up in India. The decision will translate into a price increase ranging between Rs 1-9 lakh, effective from April 2018. The move follows the government's decision to increase the customs duty on completely knocked-down (CKD) kits and fully-imported vehicles in the Union Budget 2018.

Audi India head, Rahil Ansari, said the increase in custom duty and introduction of social welfare surcharge made the price hike inevitable and called for government support to make luxury vehicles more affordable. “While luxury car industry is undertaking several initiatives and investment to make the dream of owning a luxury vehicle more realistic for all, we also expect the government to support this industry,” Ansari said in a company statement.

In the Union Budget announced on Feb 1, 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed a customs duty hike – from 7.5/10 percent to 15 percent – on imported engine components, and an increase in the duty on the vehicle parts that are an element of the CKD kits – from 10 percent to 15 percent. Additionally, he proposed a rate hike on one section of customs duty on Completely Built Unit (CBU) from 20 percent to 25 percent.

In a similar move, Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo and Czech brand Skoda have also announced an increase in prices across its product range in India.