Tata PunchNew Delhi: Get ready to pay more for new cars. Come Wednesday, prices of some brands will go up as concerns around supply chain and expensive input costs will see companies raise retail prices.
Those looking to immediately raise retail prices include mainstream brands such as Tata Motors and JSW MG, while the luxury brigade of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz will also increase prices, especially as they also factor in the impact of rupee depreciation against the Euro.
It is yet not clear whether top brands such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota are planning a similar measure immediately, though industry insiders say that input cost pressures exist across brands. “Most of them are managing cost pressures across models, and may revise soon,” a top industry analyst told Times Internet.
The war in Iran and its impact on fuel and gas costs as well as some of the critical inputs used during car production are creating a pressure on companies to recalibrate retail prices in line with the new reality.
Tata Motors — which has bestsellers such as Nexon and Punch SUVs — will increase the prices from Wednesday itself, the first day of the new fiscal. “This revision is being undertaken to partially offset the continued increase in input costs. The weighted average price increase will be 0.5 per cent of ICE portfolio and the extent will vary across models and variants,” the company said, without talking about any particular model.
JSW MG also said it will raise prices by up to 2 per cent from the first day of the new fiscal. The price hike will be on the company’s mainline portfolio and will not include premium EV products — MG M9 and Cyberster — sold through MG Select channel, the company said. “This price revision is aimed at partially offsetting the impact of continuously rising input costs,” the company said.
BMW Group India also said that prices will go up by 2 per cent across its range from Apr 1. The price increase will be applicable across the range for BMW and MINI vehicles. “… to offset escalating logistics and material costs alongside a depreciating rupee, we are implementing a price adjustment of up to 2 per cent across our range. This recalibration ensures we continue to deliver the uncompromising performance, cutting-edge innovation, and world-class service that our customers expect,” said Hardeep Singh Brar, President and CEO of BMW Group India.
Santosh Iyer, the MD & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, also said the company will be increasing prices by 2 per cent to factor in inout costs.
“We already increased prices by 2 per cent in January. The next 2 per cent will happen in April. Every quarter we will have to increase prices to factor in the depreciation of the rupee. Last year the rupee was at 90. Today we are at 108–110. The rupee has depreciated by 20–25 per cent, but prices have gone up only by 4–5 per cent. I am not even talking about commodity or other cost inflation. Pure forex shows a 20 per cent deterioration. So, prices will go up,” Iyer said.
Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi in India, also spoke about a price hike. “Due to recent rise in input costs as well as currency fluctuations, we are implementing a price adjustment of up to 2 per cent effective from Apr 1. We remain committed to minimising the impact of the price hike on our customers.”
