Adding yet another name in the list of auto makers who are going to hike the price of their vehicles from January 2011, the country’s second largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto announced on Tuesday that it will hike the price of its bikes in the country by up to Rs, 1,000 from next month. The company has blamed rising cost of input materials for this price increase.
As per a statement given by Bajaj Auto President (Two Wheelers) S Sridhar, the continued rising cost of raw material inputs is the main cause for this increase. He added that despite the hike, company’s models continue to offer superior value compared to competition, and hence does not expect this price rise to affect company’s sales.
Bajaj Auto sells a slew of two-wheelers in the Indian market including the popular bikes such as Platina, Discover and Pulsar. The company is also developing an ultra low cost (ULC) car in partnership with Nissan-Renault joint venture. The car will be launched in the price segment of Sub Rs 2 lakh by year 2012.
Earlier last week, the country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda had announced a price hike of up to Rs 1,500, showing similar reasons for the decision. The price hike will come into effect from 1st January, 2010.
Before this, a number of auto biggies have already announced to hike the price of their respective portfolio models in India from January including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota and General Motors.
In last one year, the price of key input materials including natural rubber, copper and steel has increased considerably. Thus, car makers are finding it very though to sell their cars at current price levels. However, these announcements have also been seen as carmakers way to push their sales in the last month of the year.
