India’s number one automobile manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, has hiked the prices of all its car models by 3.4% except for the Maruti Suzuki Dzire to compensate rising input costs and the impact of currency fluctuation. The depreciating value of Indian rupee and the higher input cost resulted in the hike of the prices.
Maruti sells a varied range of models starting from the Maruti 800 which starts at a price of Rs. 1.97 lakhs to the top-end Kizashi, which is priced at Rs.17.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). There has been a hike of price ranging from Rs. 2400 on the Sx4 sedan to Rs. 17300 on the diesel variant of its Swift hatchback. Earlier, the Sx4 sedan was priced between Rs. 7 lakhs to Rs. 9.11 lakhs (Ex-showroom Delhi) whereas the Swift Diesel was priced between Rs.5.27 lakh to Rs.6.47 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
There is an increase in the expense of importing parts than before due to the continual weakness showed by the Indian currency when compared to the US Dollar, the currency of choice in the import-export markets.
The Maruti Suzuki Dzire sedan is the only model whose prices haven’t been hiked as a new replacement model is about to hit the market. The Maruti new Dzire compact sedan will replace the existing Dzire although the base variants of the existing Dzire will continue to ply on the roads under the taxi segment. It will be launched in the 1st week of February, 2012.
The new Dzire’s prices will be higher than the older version, even though the compact Dzire sedan is less than 4 m in length thus qualifying for the excise duty benefits which the Government of India offers to the manufacturers whose cars measure less than 4 meters in length. The increase in price is due to the 150 new features which have been added in the new Dzire compact sedan.
Huge discounts were offered on many car models in December due to which there has been a strong sale in December. Until recently, many automakers refrained from increasing car prices which was due in early 2012 to balance the declining car sales. But as Maruti has increased the price, other automakers may also hike the prices.
