Maruti Suzuki to hike prices of cars from January due to increased cost pressure

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest automaker, on Monday said that it plans to increase the prices of its cars from January 2024 due to rising commodity costs and overall inflation.

"The company has planned to increase the prices of its cars in January, 2024 on account of increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and increased commodity prices. While the company makes maximum efforts to reduce cost and offset the increase, it may have to pass on some increase to the market," the largest carmaker in India said in a regulatory filing.

This price increase shall vary across models, Maruti added.

This is not the first time that Maruti Suzuki has been forced to raise car prices due to rising input costs. The company also increased prices by 1.1 per cent across models in January 2023, and it is likely that there will be further price increases in the future if inflation continues to rise.

The price hike is likely to have an impact on Maruti Suzuki's sales, as it could make its cars less affordable for some customers. However, the company is confident that it will be able to maintain its market share despite the price increase.

Maruti Suzuki reported its highest-ever monthly sales in October 2023, selling 1,99,217 units, a significant 19 per cent increase from the 1,67,520 units sold in October 2022. This robust growth was driven by strong demand across all segments, including compact cars, utility vehicles (UVs), and vans.

The company's total domestic dispatches reached 1,77,266 units in October 2023, marking a significant 21 per cent increase from the 1,47,072 units dispatched in the same month of 2022.

The automaker’s standalone net profit surged 80.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 3,716 crore in the quarter ended September 30. This was primarily driven by higher net sales, softening of commodity prices, cost reduction efforts, and higher non-operating income.

The revenue from operations of the New Delhi-based company climbed 23.8 percent year on year to Rs 37,062 crore. MSIL's revenue in the same quarter last year was Rs 29,930.8 crore.

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