Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), the largest car maker in the country, said on Thursday that it will hike the price of its cars in India from next week. The company has blamed higher input costs for this price hike. It is to be mentioned here that Maruti has already increased the price of its portfolio cars twice in the current financial year.
The domestic auto giant is struggling with shrinking margins due to a continuous rise in key row materials such as natural rubber, steel and aluminum. What has made the situation even more difficult for the company is strengthening in the value of the yen against the U.S. dollar, making imported parts (from its parent Suzuki’s base market Japan) costlier for the auto maker.
As per a recent statement given to the reporters, Maruti's managing executive officer for sales and marketing, Mayank Pareek said, "We will have to raise it (car prices) now." He however has not revealed the size of this prospective price hike.
The company will increase the monthly production of its highest selling small car Alto to 40,000 units from 32,000 units, currently. "We have asked vendors to ramp up supplies for the Alto as we envisage a significant jump in volumes," another Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. official said.
