Honda to hike prices by up to 2.6 pc; Maruti to follow soon

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Ahead of the festive season, Honda Cars India on Monday announced plans to hike vehicle prices, a step which Maruti Suzuki will follow suit within a week.

The companies cited rising input costs and impact of adverse currency movements as the reasons for the price hike.

Honda Cars India will raise the prices of its three models -- Brio, Jazz and City -- by up to 2.6 per cent with effect from October 1, mainly due to rising input costs. "Honda Cars India Ltd today announced an increase in the price of its volume models -– Brio, Jazz and City -- in the range of 0.2-2.6 per cent on their current price," the company said in a statement.

The revised prices will be effective from October 1, 2012, it added. "The prices have been revised due to the rising input costs, inflationary pressures and increase in freight as a result of the increase in diesel prices," the company said.

The existing prices of the small car Brio is priced between Rs 4.05 lakh and Rs 5.23 lakh. The premium compact car Jazz is offered at Rs 5.85 lakh to Rs 6.41 lakh. The company currently sells its flagship sedan City at Rs 7.25 lakh to Rs 10.46 lakh.

All the prices are as per Honda Cars India's official website and are for ex-showroom, Delhi. Similarly, the country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India said it will hike the prices of its vehicles within a week in order to offset impact of adverse foreign exchange fluctuation and rising input costs.

"There is a lot of pressure on our margins due to the foreign exchange fluctuation and rising input costs. We will be increasing product prices within a week but the details are being worked out," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said.

The company sells a range of models starting with the M800 to the luxury sedan Kizashi, which are priced between Rs 2.04 lakh and Rs 17.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Earlier in the day, MSI said that in order to counter the impact of adverse currency movement, it is targeting to reduce its forex exposure by nearly 65 per cent to USD 600 million by March 2015 for which it is working with its vendors to reduce imports.

Besides, the company is looking out for new markets to increase exports of its products to mitigate impact of unfavourable foreign exchange fluctuation. The company's plans to hike product prices comes at a time when it is gearing up for the upcoming festive season with the launch of its all new Alto 800 next month.