New Delhi, Dec. 13: Buying a car in the new year will be expensive as auto makers today announced price hikes of up to Rs 1 lakh on various models to offset higher input costs. The move comes despite retail sales at dealerships taking a hit of 30-40 per cent in the last three-four weeks on account of demonetisation.
Hyundai Motor India today said it would hike prices by up to Rs 1 lakh across models, including the small car Eon and the SUV Santa FE, from January 1.
"In these challenging market conditions, we are constrained to consider price hikes because of factors such as increased input costs, fluctuating exchange rates and increasing marketing expenses," said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president (sales and marketing) of Hyundai Motor India.
The company's entry-level small car Eon has a starting price of Rs 3.27 lakh, while the SUV Santa FE is priced at Rs 31.98 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Nissan Motor India also said it would increase prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 30,000 from next month to offset higher input costs. The Japanese car maker sells a range of vehicles under the Nissan and Datsun brands, starting with the entry-level small car Datsun Go priced at Rs 3.28 lakh to the SUV Nissan Terrano for Rs 13.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
"This comes as a result of rising input costs. The revision of prices will help us to offset its impact and maintain our competitiveness," Arun Malhotra, managing director of Nissan Motor India, said.
Renault India's cars such as the Kwid, Duster, Scala, Fluence, Lodgy and the Koleos will be pricier as the company announced a hike of up to 3 per cent from January 2017. The French car maker has been sustaining losses as a result of an increase in steel prices in the global market.
Renault India's range starts from Rs 2.64 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the Kwid, while the top-of-the-line Koleos is priced at Rs 24.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). One of the most popular SUVs in India, the Duster, is priced at Rs 13.77 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Yesterday, Tata Motors had announced a hike in passenger car prices by Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 from next month.
