Latest Car News in India

Maruti raises car price up to 3.4 per cent

Maruti India has at last raised the prices of its cars in India. However, the Indian car maker has waited for over a fortnight for the sales to improve and recoup the loss due to lack of promising sales in December 2011. But, at last it had to increase the prices of Maruti cars. As per sources, there has been an increase ranging from 0.3 percent to 3.4 percent in the Maruti car prices. Other car makers such as Hyundai and Mahindra have also increased the prices of their cars in India in January.

The increase has been termed as inadvertent by the companies and they have quoted a sharp increase in input costs due to rise in commodity prices and devaluation of rupee. The last price rise by Maruti was in November 2011 when it had raised the price of its diesel cars by up to Rs 10,000. This had already increased the prices of Maruti Swift, Maruti Ritz and Maruti Swift Dzire cars.

As per sources, the car companies have no other option but to increase the car prices as there has been a significant increase in input costs thus sharply reducing their margins. Thus, the companies had to transfer the burden to the customers. Experts also believe that the present rise will be further dampening the sales that are already sluggish since December last year. Except Maruti Swift, Maruti Swift Dzire and Maruti Ritz and Maruti SX4, all other cars by Maruti have registered negative growth in December 2011 compared to the same month in 2010.

Notably, car companies such as Maruti, Toyota besides others have delayed their decision on their car price hike following the strategy to lure customer to buy 2012 model cars at the price of 2011 model. Besides, car companies have extended several benefits and offers to the customers which were carried on to January as well in a hope to improve their car sales.