Carmakers to implement price hike in 2013

Effective January, 2013, a range of car companies will hike prices across their model range. Car manufacturers are reeling under the pressure of a depreciating rupee value and rising input costs, and are subsequently looking to clear out their current year’s inventory. While the obvious upshot is that carmakers are offering sizeable discounts on their cars currently, the downside is that these discounts will be short-lived, with 2013 bringing in the said price hike.

Renault will action a 1.5 percent price hike across its entire model range from January, 2013. This includes its Pulse hatchback, Scala saloon, Duster SUV, Fluence saloon and Koleos SUV. Luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz will also implement a 1 – 3 percent price hike across its product portfolio, effective January, 2013. Toyota and Mahindra will hike prices of its entire model line-up with a 1 – 2 percent and 2.5 percent increase in prices respectively. The Mahindra-owned SsangYong brand’s Rexton SUV will also be subjected to a price hike similar to that of its parent company.

Citing rising inflation and a hike in raw material costs, Chevrolet has also announced that it would implement a 1 – 3 percent hike across its car line-up, which includes the Spark, Beat, Sail U-VA, Tavera, Cruze and Captiva. Maruti Suzuki has also announce that a price hike of up to Rs 20,000 will be implemented in January, 2013 across its line-up, while Nissan’s and Honda’s cars will be dearer by 3 percent and around 1.4 percent respectively in 2013. 

The rest of the carmakers in the market are expected to announce similar price hikes across their model line-up soon.