Tata Motors spokesperson said that there will be major price hike in auto industry next month when the new emission norms are effective in India. “There will be a price hike across the industry when the Euro-IV norms come in to effect,” said Tata Motors passenger car division president Rajiv Dube. “We cannot say now by how much the price will be hiked, but a hike is definite, as companies cannot absorb the extra cost in meeting the new norms,” he said.

Tata Motors is getting ready to introduce its new crossover model Tata Aria by middle of this year that will be placed higher than Tata Safari. “We haven’t announced the price band of this product. But as it is a premium and sophisticated product, it will be priced above the Safari,” Dubey said.

On the other hand, car sales in February have been record high. Sales have received special thrust before the budget owing to the anticipated price hike. Two leading car manufacturers in India Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have reported highest ever domestic sales in their history in the month of February.

Even post budget sales have not slowed down in spite of fuel price hike and excise duty roll back. “The demand cycle continues to be upbeat as the economy continues its healthy pace of growth and the entry of new players into the market ensuring that carmakers will keep rolling out highly competitive vehicles at attractive price points,” says Vaishali Jajoo, an auto analyst with Mumbai-based Angel Broking.