Mahindra to raise prices from August

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced that it will increase prices of its passenger vehicles by up to Rs 30,000 or 2 percent, effective August 2018.

Commenting on the price hike, Rajan Wadhera, president (Automotive Sector), Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “With the ongoing increase in commodity prices we plan to take a price hike of up to 2 percent in some models.”

As per apex industry body SIAM’s quarterly review, commodity prices have been seeing an upward trend with key raw materials, including HR steel (+3.20 percent), CR steel (+3.97 percent), pig iron (+3.41 percent) and virgin aluminium (+9.26 percent) escalating significantly between March and May 2018, all of which will impact production costs of manufacturers. 

The news of the price increase comes a day before Mahindra’s name announcement for its upcoming MPV (codename: U321). The MPV that is expected to go on sale in the coming months is one of the big launches from Mahindra this year. The MPV will come in both, seven- and eight-seat configurations, and going by Mahindra’s recent trend, expect it to be loaded with upmarket comfort and connectivity features like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, automatic climate control, projector headlamps and daytime running lamps.

The U321 won't be a replacement for the Xylo, but instead is a slightly premium product that will be positioned above it. It will take on the upcoming second-gen Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, the Renault Lodgy, and even the Toyota Innova Crysta at the higher end of the segment.