Get set to pay more for Baleno, Grand Vitara and other Maruti models from April

Maruti Suzuki is all set to increase the prices of its model range from April 1. The company on Thursday informed in a regulatory filing that prices will be increased for its model range from April in order to partially offset the impact of rising inflation and regulatory requirements. However, the carmaker hasn't yet revealed the quantum of price hike that it intends to implement.

Maruti Suzuki said that while it makes “maximum effort to reduce cost and partially offset the increase", it has become imperative to pass on some of the impact through a price increase. "This price hike is in response to general inflationary pressures as well as regulatory requirements like RDE norms which come into effect from April 1," the company's Executive Director for Marketing and Sales, Shashank Srivastava said. “We have already made modifications in many of our models to meet with the newer norms."

Srivastava noted that the company has had seven price hikes since January of 2021 in small amounts. He explained that material cost is 75 % of cost structure for OEMs and inputs costs have been rising. “A single large hike did not happen from most OEMs because there was uncertainty over demand over the past years. We do not want to compromise overall demand in PV (passenger vehicle) industry," he added.

Apart from Maruti, various other auto OEMs such as Honda Cars, Tata Motors - for commercial vehicles, and Hero MotoCorp have announced increase in prices from April. Automakers have also started updating their lineups to make them complaint with the latest emission norms or the Bharat Stage (BS) 6 Phase II, which is equivalent to Euro6 emission norms.

From April 1, vehicles will need to have an on-board self-diagnostic device to monitor the real-time driving emission levels. This device will constantly monitor key parts of the vehicle such as the catalytic converter and oxygen sensors, for meeting emission standards.