Hyundai, Maruti to hike car prices

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co plans to raise the prices of its car models in India by up to Rs30,000 starting in January, its local unit said, citing challenging market conditions.

“We are constrained to consider the price increase on account of factors like increase in cost of components, weak rupee etc,” Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Hyundai Motor India said.

The company sells nine car models — Eon, i10, Grand i10, Elite i20, Active i20, Xcent, Verna, Elantra and Santa Fe — across segments priced between Rs3.10 lakh and Rs30.41 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Hyundai’s plans come a week after German carmaker BMW said that it would raise the prices of its BMW and Mini-branded cars sold in India by up to 3 per cent starting next year.

Hyundai is India’s second-largest carmaker by sales and the country’s largest exporter.

India’s car market, the world’s sixth largest, is expected to grow to the number three position by 2020 as incomes rise.

Market leader Maruti Suzuki India also announced that it will hike prices of its vehicles across models by up to Rs 20,000 from January to offset impact of rising costs and weakening of rupee against dollar, joining rivals in making such a move.

“The price increase has been necessitated on account of increase in costs due to weakening of rupee against dollar, rise in administrative and other costs,” a Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) spokesperson said.

Currently, MSI sells a range of vehicles starting from the entry level small car Alto 800 to the S-Cross with price ranging between Rs 2.53 lakh and Rs13.74 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).