Renault has increased prices of its Pulse hatchback by around two percent, effective from 8 March, 2012. The French carmaker has cited rising input costs as a reason for the price hike.

Nissan increased prices of the Micra last month by Rs 12,000 for the diesel variants, so expect the Pulse, which is a badge engineered Micra, to be priced similarly. Renault had earlier hiked the prices of its Koleos SUV in December 2011 by Rs 1 lakh.

The Renault Pulse is powered by the 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine that develops 63bhp and is available only in two trims – a base RxL and top-end RxZ. It was launched at the Auto Expo in January at an introductory price of Rs 5.77 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).