Maruti Suzuki cars’ prices to increase in second quarter of FY2022

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, has revealed that it will implement a price hike in the second quarter of FY2021-22. This means that Maruti Suzuki cars will get pricier between July 2021 and September 2021 period. This information was shared by Maruti Suzuki in a regulatory filing. The company has decided to make its vehicles costlier in order to offset the increased input costs. It is worth noting that Maruti Suzuki cars had become costlier by up to ₹34,000 in January this year. The company then once again increased the prices of its cars by up to 1.6 per cent in April 2021. All these price increments were chalked up to increased input costs. 

The company has not revealed the quantum of price hike and whether its entire range of passenger card will get expensive. However, it did note that the price increment will vary for different models and variants. 

Maruti Suzuki, in the regulatory filing, said, “Over the past year, the cost of the company’s vehicles continue to be adversely impacted due to increase in various input costs. Hence, it has become imperative for the company to pass on some impact of the above additional cost to customers through a price rise,”

With India’s largest carmaker deciding to undertake a price hike, it is expected that several other companies will follow suit and make their vehicles expensive in India. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the global automobile industry, including the supply chain. Furthermore, the pandemic and its economic implications have also become a sore point for automakers and components manufacturers.

To make things worse, a surge in demand for electronic items has led to a global shortage of semiconductors that are essential in modern cars. This global shortage has led to a production delay in most international markets, including India. The overall problem is compounded by the fact that semiconductor manufacturers, in order to offset increased production cycles at their plants, have started making semiconductors expensive. This increased input cost is also being transferred to the customers in the form of a price hike.