Maruti Suzuki To Raise Car Prices From January As Costs Increase

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. will raise prices of its cars from January due to increased cost pressures 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 company said in a release on Monday.

The company did not reveal the quantum of the price increase but said it will vary across models.

Automakers raise vehicle prices periodically to pass on the rise in costs and announcements related to these price increases have traditionally come in certain windows, including on days leading up to the new year.

After Maruti Suzuki, several automakers are expected to follow suit over the next few weeks.

While the raw material costs have stabilized in the past few months, the carmakers have claimed that an earlier surge in commodity costs was not fully passed on to buyers, which hit companies' profitability.

"After a sharp increase in 1HFY23, most of the RMs (raw materials) have witnessed significant correction in their prices," Motilal Oswal said in a report last week. "Commodities such as steel, aluminum, rubber, polymer have corrected 10-25% from their peaks."