Skoda is the latest carmaker in India to announce a price hike from the start of the New Year. Come January 1, 2019, the Czech manufacturer has announced an increase in pricing across its model range by as much as two percent.

The brand has cited rising input and transport costs in both the domestic and import fronts as a reason for the hike in pricing.

“There has been a surge in the cost of our inputs for production due to significant volatility in the global commodity prices and foreign exchange rates in recent times,” said Zac Hollis, Director – Sales, Service, and Marketing, Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd in a statement. “Skoda Auto India has been absorbing these incremental costs all this while but is now considering a price increase of up to two percent with effect from January 1, 2019, across its model range.”

Aside from announcing the price hike, Skoda has also introduced a new ‘Buy Now Pay in 2020’ EMI scheme allowing prospective buyers to basically own a Skoda now, and pay for it after a year.

The brand is also set to see the launch of two all-new models in coming years as part of the ‘India 2.0’ plan. This plan, laid out by Skoda's parent company, the Volkswagen Group, will see the launch of four new models based on an India-specific derivative of the brand’s MQB-A0 platform. The first of these models is a Skoda SUV, due in 2020.

Other carmakers to announce a price hike in the Indian market from January 1 include Mahindra, BMW, Toyota and Isuzu.