Maruti to hike prices of all models

Maruti Suzuki India, country's largest car maker, on Wednesday said it will increase the prices of its entire range of models by up to Rs 10,000 from October first week, mainly due to depreciation of rupee.

"We have been planning to raise the price for some time as our input costs went up severely, mainly on account of weakening of rupee. However, the market was not conducive. Now it has become inevitable," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek told PTI.

The quantum of price increase will vary according to different models and fuel specifications, and will be effective from the first week of October, he added.

"The amount of price hike will vary between Rs 3,000 and Rs 10,000. It will be applicable to all our models," Pareek said.

The prices of MSI's vehicles that are manufactured in India start from Rs 2.35 lakh and goes up to Rs 10.21 lakh. These prices are as per the company's official website and are for ex-showroom, Guwahati.

MSI had last hiked the prices in January for all its vehicles by up to Rs 20,000 to offset the pressure of adverse currency fluctuation.

In the last few months, rupee devalued drastically and hit a life-time low of below 68.85 against the US dollar. However, it started gaining after Raghuram Rajan joined as the new Governor of RBI and announced a slew of measures.

Earlier, this month, Hyundai and General Motors decided to increase vehicle prices by up to Rs 20,000 to offset the impact of rupee depreciation and rising input costs, resulting in more spending from new car buyers in the festive season.

Tata Motors said it plans to increase the prices of its passenger and commercial vehicles by around 1-1.5 per cent, depending on the model, either petrol or diesel.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor had announced a hike in prices of its key models by up to Rs 24,000 with effect from September 21 to partly offset higher cost of raw materials and rupee depreciation.