Cars to get dearer from New Year as Tata, Merc mull price hikes after Maruti and M&M

Come New Year 2024, many cars in India are set to be pricier as Tata Motors and Mercedes-Benz India are mulling to hike the prices of their cars from January 2024.

It came on the heels of Marut Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Audi India announcing their plans to hike their car prices from January 2024.

While Tata Motors said it is considering increasing the prices of its passenger and electric vehicles in January 2024, Mercedes-Benz India also said it is likely to hike prices from January.

The extent of the hike and exact details will be announced in a few weeks’ time.

Earlier on Monday, automakers Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Audi India announced plans to hike the prices of their passenger vehicles in January 2024 citing reasons, including cost pressure driven by overall inflation and increased commodity rates.

Maruti Suzuki India had last hiked the vehicle prices by 0.8% in April this year. In the last fiscal, it had effected a total price hike of 2.4%.

“Steel prices have firmed up a little over the last 3-4 months, which accounts for around 38% of our commodity buying. We have been estimating the impact of the volatility of commodity prices on our costs, and trying to cut costs internally and then take price hikes as a last resort," Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, of Maruti Suzuki said in an interview with Mint.

Similarly, German luxury car maker Audi said it will hike the prices of its vehicles in India by up to 2 per cent from January, citing rising input and operational costs. The price hike will be across the model range manufactured in India.

Mahindra and Mahindra CEO (Automotive Division) Nalinikanth Gollagunta had also announced a price increase for their automotive products effective January 2024.