First Honda, now Toyota too mulls hiking vehicle prices

Due to the continued pressure of high costs, Toyota is considering a price increase of up to 3 per cent across models with effect from January.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Thursday said it is considering to increase prices of its models by up to 3 per cent from January, to offset the impact of rising input costs.

The company considered the price rise after reviewing input and freight costs periodically, which is also a general industry phenomenon, TKM said in a statement.

"There has been an increase in the cost of manufacturing of vehicles.

"Frequent fluctuation in the global commodity prices and foreign exchange rates have continued to impact our input costs, from both domestic as well as import fronts," a company spokesperson said.

TKM has been absorbing the additional costs all this while, protecting the customers from price increase, the spokesperson added.

"However, due to the continued pressure of high costs, Toyota is considering a price increase of up to 3 per cent across models with effect from January," the spokesperson said.

The company sells models ranging from hatchback Etios Liva with price starting at Rs 520,000 to Land Cruiser 200 priced at Rs 1.35 crore (ex-showroom Delhi).

On Wednesday, Honda Cars India announced that it would hike vehicle prices by up to Rs 25,000 from January to offset the impact of rising input costs.

Earlier this month, Isuzu had announced to increase prices of its models by up to Rs 100,000.

In November, Skoda Auto India announced that it will hike prices of its vehicles by 2-3 per cent across the entire model range from January 1.

Photograph: Gary Cameron/Reuters