Manufacturers claim that the prices have increased not only due to the excise duty hike, but also due to the increase in input costs on raw materials.
Following the government’s decision to withdraw the excise duty concession on all vehicles in the auto sector from 1st January 2015, Maruti Suzuki and General Motors joined the bandwagon to announce price hikes across its range of models in the country for the new year. Earlier this week, it was Honda and Hyundai to announce price hikes wherein Honda increased prices across its range up to Rs. 60,000/-, while Hyundai increased prices up to a whopping Rs. 1.27 lakhs on its range of vehicles.
Starting with Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest auto manufacturer hiked prices between Rs. 7850/- and Rs. 31,600/- starting with the Omni going up to the new flagship Ciaz sedan. For 2015, the Maruti Alto will now be more expensive by Rs. 8500/- to Rs. 12,700/-, while the Wagon R has seen a price hike of Rs. 12,500/- to Rs. 15,700/- across all variants, from the current price of Rs. 3.48 lakhs for the base variant. The new Celerio will see an increase in prices of Rs. 13,600/- to Rs. 17,200/- from the current price of Rs. 3.76 lakhs.
Moving up the ladder, the Maruti Swift is now dearer by Rs. 15,850/- going up to Rs. 25,150/-, while the booted DZire has seen prices increase by Rs. 17,500/- to Rs. 26,650/- for the new year. The Omni van on the other hand will cost Rs. 7850/- to Rs. 9950/- more over the current price of Rs. 2.17 lakhs. Maruti’s MPV the Ertiga has also seen a marginal hike by Rs. 18,750/- going up to Rs. 27,750/-. Lastly, prices for the the company’s new flagship Ciaz have also been hiked by Rs. 22,450/- to Rs. 31,600/- from its current price of Rs. 6.99 lakhs.
Coming to General Motors, the American auto giant stated that the hike in prices was in order to partially offset the impact of rising input costs along with the excise duty withdrawal. For the new year, prices for all GM vehicles have been hiked by Rs. 15,000/- to Rs. 61,000/- and are immediately in effect. Starting with hatchbacks, prices for the Spark and Beat have increased by Rs. 15,739/- to Rs. 18,300/-, while that for the Sail have been hiked by Rs. 20,458/- to Rs. 36,387/-.
The Chevrolet Sail sedan on the other hand has become more expensive by Rs. 22,365/- to Rs. 35,820/-, while the Enjoy MPV’s prices have escalated by Rs. 24,901/- to Rs. 35,319/-. The Tavera has seen a hike with prices escalated by Rs. 24,799/- to Rs. 60,982/-, with the MPV now starting at Rs. 9.25 lakhs. Lastly, the Cruze sedan has witnessed a hefty escalation in prices by Rs. 46,960/- going up to Rs. 55,561/- and will now start at Rs. 14.26 lakhs.
* (all prices, ex-showroom, Delhi).
