Mahindra & Mahindra, the leading utility vehicle maker in the Indian market, announced on Thursday that it will raise the price of its latest SUV – XUV 500 – by up to Rs 55,000 from the starting of next month. The decision has been taken in a bid to save company’s margins, which is under high pressure due to the depreciating rupee and increased input material costs.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Mumbai, the company said, "The price rise has been necessitated as the launch price was an invitation price and there has also been a considerable impact of increase in raw material costs and the rupee depreciation with respect to the dollar and the Euro."
Margin of this hike for the different variants of XUV 500 will be as follows, base model to get expensive by Rs 30,000; the four-wheel drive variant to go dearer by Rs 50,000; W8-AWD model to get expensive by Rs 55,000.
The company however, has offered a relaxation of 50 percent in hike to the customers who have already booked the XUV 500, and waiting for the delivery of their vehicle. In a statement given in this regard, the company said, "However, as a special case, for all the current bookings, for which delivery has not been made and in spite of the terms of price applicable at the time of delivery, the increase would only be 50 percent of the actual price increase proposed.”
