Honda Cars hikes vehicle prices by up to Rs. 60,000

Honda Cars India today increased prices of its vehicles by up to ₹ 60,000 following the expiry of reduced excise duty concessions and also to offset rising input costs.

The company has raised the prices of its entry level car Brio in the range of ₹ 15,000 to ₹ 18,000 and it will now cost between ₹ 4.21 lakh and ₹ 6.30 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

Prices of compact sedan Amaze have been hiked in the range of 19,000 to ₹ 26,000 and it will now be available for ₹ 5.18 lakh to ₹ 7.78 lakh.

The prices of petrol version of the compact sedan have been increased in the range of ₹ 19,000-₹ 23,000 while diesel powered models would get expensive by ₹ 23,000 - ₹ 26,000, the company said.

Honda's flagship mid-sized sedan City will be dearer by up to ₹ 48,000. The prices of petrol variants of the car have gone up by ₹ 33,000 to ₹ 46,000, while the diesel variants have become expensive in the range of ₹ 37,000 to ₹ 48,000.

The model is now priced between ₹ 7.53 lakh and ₹ 11.53 lakh.

The company has also hiked the price of its premium sports utility vehicle CR-V by 60,000 and will now be available between ₹20.85 lakh and ₹24.96 lakh.

An official of Honda Cars India said the company is still working on the quantum of price hike for its multi purpose vehicle Mobilio.

The move follows the government not extending excise duty concessions given to the auto industry and consumer durables sectors after the expiry on December 31, 2014.

The government had extended the excise duty concessions by 6 months in June continuing the previous UPA government's decision to cut excise duty on cars, SUVs, two-wheelers and consumer durables in the interim Budget in February, 2014.

The excise duty on small cars, scooters, motorcycles and commercial vehicles was reduced to 8 per cent from 12 per cent previously. For SUVs, it was cut to 24 per cent from 30 per cent; for mid-sized cars, to 20 per cent from 24 per cent and to 24 per cent for large cars, from 27 per cent.

In December, Maruti Suzuki India said it would hike prices of its models in the range of 2-4 per cent from this month, while Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra had also announced plans to increase prices in the range of 1-2 per cent citing higher input costs.

German luxury car maker BMW also said it would raise product prices in India by up to 5 per cent with effect from
the first week of January.

General Motors India had also announced a price hike by up to ₹ 20,000 from January in order to partially offset rising input costs.