Car makers to increase prices from January 2013

Car makers to increase prices from January 2013Car prices are all set to pick up the pace in Ney Year as Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest car maker, has confirmed a 1-3 per cent increase in the prices of its cars effective January 2013.

Maruti announced on Thursday that it would hike prices of all of its cars by up to Rs 20,000. Similarly, the Indian arms of renowned car makers GM and Toyota have announced their decisions to hike prices of their vehicles by 1-3 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, from January 2013 onwards.

Maruti and other car makers' margins have been under pressure because of high currency fluctuations.

Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president of Honda Cars India, also confirmed that the company was considering price increases. Speaking on the topic, he said, "We are working on the quantum of hikes. Currency fluctuation is our primary concern."

Mr. Sen admitted that the price hikes affect demand but stressed that a great deal depends on the market sentiment.

Maruti, which owns 41 per cent share of the Indian car market, said that the quantum of price hikes would differ depending on models. Currently, Maruti sells a range of models with prices ranging from Rs 2.09 lakh to Rs 17.52 lakh.

The list of Toyota Kirloskar's offerings include hatchback Etios Liva that starts at Rs 4.44 lakh and imported sports utility vehicle (SUV) Land Cruiser that costs Rs 99.27 lakh, among some other models. GM manufactures a range of Chevrolet cars in India and its portfolio including brands like Captiva, Spark and Tavera.