Cars set to get expensive from next month as OEMs announce price hikes

Carmakers cite an increase in input costs and operational expenses as the main reason to implement price increases from the next month

NEW DELHI: Prices of various car models—ranging from entry-level hatchbacks to high-end luxury offerings—are set to rise as automakers have announced price hikes with effect from January.

Carmakers cite an increase in input costs and operational expenses as the main reason to implement price increases from the next month.

Industry experts, however, note that the exercise is also undertaken by automakers every year in December to shore up sales volume in the last month of the year, as customers postpone buyouts to later months to get the new year manufactured units.

“We have seen a few cycles of price increase in India. It happens at the beginning of the calendar year and financial year, but few OEMs pick the timing based on their planned launches as well,” Deloitte India Partner Rajat Mahajan said.

While there could be multiple factors for the price increase, the key one is due to a decline in profitability of a few large auto OEMs in the second quarter, he added.