Maruti Suzuki car prices to be hiked yet again

Maruti Suzuki will hike prices of its passenger vehicles once again this month. The company informed of its decision in a regulatory filing and blamed increase prices to rising input costs for the decision. The country's largest car maker has hiked prices of its cars several times over the past few months but is only one among many automotive brands to have done so.

In a regulatory filing, Maruti Suzuki informed that rising costs of various input has time and again necessitated vehicle price hikes. The exact amount of the hike would vary depending the model.

The Indian automotive industry continues to battle challenges on numerous fronts. While the semiconductor shortage issue continues to persist with no respite in sight, supply chains are also significantly impacted owing to Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as China imposing lockdown restrictions in many of its cities.

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) recently predicted the gloom to continue while highlighting overall sales in March had come down when compared to figures from March of 2021 and 2020. It noted that in the case of passenger vehicles in particular, while demand remains strong, problems are more on the production and supply side. This coupled with rising fuel prices could indeed have an adverse impact on sales in the times to come.

But Maruti in particular remains well poised to make most of the tough times and is set to launch the updated Ertiga and XL6 in the market, possibly in this month itself.