Maruti Suzuki cars get costlier, input costs blamed. Check details

Maruti Suzuki on Saturday announced that it has increased the prices of its vehicles by up to 4.3 per cent with immediate effect. The carmaker attributed this to the rise in input costs, the impact of which it wants to partially set off. The prices have been hikes across the portfolio in the range of 0.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent.

The weighted average price increment in ex-showroom prices for Delhi across models is 1.7 per cent, the auto major stated in a regulatory filing. The latest price hike comes after Maruti hiked the vehicle prices three times last year. In January, the prices were hiked by 1.4 per while there was a hike of 1.6 per cent in April and 1.9 per cent in September, taking the total quantum to 4.9 per cent.

Last month, Maruti Suzuki had stated that it has been forced to hike prices due to the increase in cost of essential commodities such as steel, aluminum, copper, plastic and precious metals over the last one year.

The auto industry, in general, has been facing various headwinds such as the shortage of semiconductor chips and other parts. This also resulted in a 2% decline in production at Maruti Suzuki's facilities in December last year. The company produced a total of 1,52,029 units last month as compared to 1,55,127 units produced in the year-ago period. While the total passenger vehicle production was at 1,48,767 units last month, it was more in December of 2020 at 1,53,475 units.

Last month, Reuters had reported that production at Maruti Suzuki's two facilities in Haryana and in Gujarat were to remain affected with production being 80% to 85% of normal production. While demand for passenger vehicles in the country has bounced back post the second Covid-19 wave, production and supply has been a big concern for automakers.

(with inputs from PTI)