More carmakers announce price hikes from January 2021
21st Dec 2020 2:18 pm
Rising input costs and the COVID-19 pandemic are said to be major reasons for the hikes.
Rising input costs and the COVID-19 pandemic are said to be major reasons for the hikes.
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Kia, Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, MG and Mahindra are just some of the carmakers that have announced price hikes for their models, starting January 2021. It is fairly common for car manufacturers to hike prices at the start of the calendar year, owing to exchange-rate fluctuations and rising input and material costs. The move is also expected to help the brands increase sales in the last month of the year. Let’s take a look at the carmakers who are set to hike prices from next month.
Kia Motors has conveyed to its dealers that it will be making ‘an upward price correction’ for its Seltos and Sonet SUVs from January. The statement said, “The expected increase will be substantial. Exact extent of price increase will be intimated on January 1”. Interestingly, the document has no mention of hiking prices of the Carnival MPV, which has been Kia’s slowest seller thus far.
Currently, the Kia Seltos is priced from Rs 9.89 lakh to Rs 17.34 lakh, while the Sonet ranges from Rs 6.71 lakh to Rs 12.89 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Hyundai India will also hike prices of its models in the new year. The manufacturer has stated that its entire range will go through the price revision due to rise in input and material costs. However, the extent of the price hike will only be known in January 2021. Expect different price hike increments depending on model, variant and fuel type.
Much like Hyundai, India’s leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki will also hike prices across its range due to rising input costs. While the brand has not yet revealed by how much prices will increase, the hike in prices will be dependent on the model in question. Maruti hiked prices of its range in January 2020 as well, but expect the hike to be more substantial for 2021, given the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
Home-grown SUV maker Mahindra too has announced that it will be hiking prices of its vehicles from the new year. While the carmaker did not comment on the extent of the hike, it revealed that the hike would be applicable to both its passenger and commercial vehicle portfolios. The carmaker cited rising costs of inputs and commodity prices as the reason for the hike.
While MG recently announced it would be launching a new seven-seat Hector Plus early next year, it is also preparing to hike prices. The carmaker has said that it will be hiking prices across all its models currently on sale by up to 3 percent from January 1. The carmaker had last month hiked prices for the Gloster following the conclusion of the introductory pricing period.
Dealer sources have confirmed to us that Honda too will be revising prices of their cars upwards from January 1, 2020. There is however no details yet as to how much the carmaker will be hiking prices of its models.
Renault has announced that it will be hiking prices for its models by up to Rs 28,000 from the new calendar year. In a statement the carmaker revealed that rising prices of input materials and other costs had necessitated an upward revision in pricing.
On the luxury end of the car market, the BMW Group India has said that it will be hiking prices for its range of models sold under BMW and Mini by as much as 4 percent from 2021. The carmaker has said that the new prices will come into effect from January 4, 2021.
Ford India is set to hike prices of its range of cars and SUVs by up to 3 percent from January 2021 or between Rs 5,000 to Rs 35,000 depending on the model. The carmaker however has said that customers booking their cars in 2020 will not be affected with the old price remaining applicable for these buyers.
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