Maruti Suzuki India hikes car prices by up to Rs 34,000 ex-showroom Delhi, effective today

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India's biggest automaker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), on January 18 announced that it has increased its vehicle prices by up to Rs 34,000 ex-showroom in Delhi, according to a report by CNBC-TV-18.

The decision is effective from today. The auto major said that rise in input costs, including steep hike in steel and raw material costs, was the reason behind hike in car prices.

According to the industry sources, MSI has raised the price of Alto by up to Rs 9,000, while Espresso will cost Rs 7,000 more. For Baleno, the price has been hiked by up to Rs 19,400.

Similarly, the prices of WagonR has been increased by up to 2,500 to Rs 18,200. Meanwhile, Brezza will cost Rs 10,000 more and Celerio's price has been hiked by up to 14,400.

Maruti Suzuki sales rise 20% to 1,60,226 units in December

Meanwhile, brokerage house ICICI Direct expects Maruti Suzuki to report a net profit of Rs 1,553 crore, down 0.8 percent year-on-year (YoY) but up 13.2 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) for the third quarter of the current fiscal (Q3FY21). While its net sales are expected to increase by 11 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 22,981 crore and 22.6 percent on a sequential basis.

Earlier in January, 2021, the automaker reported a 20.2 percent increase in sales to 1,60,226 units in December.  The company had sold 1,33,296 units in December 2020, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

It had further said that domestic sales increased 17.8 percent to 1,46,480 units last month as against 1,24,375 units Y-o-Y. The firm had said that sales of mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, increased by 4.4 percent to 24,927 units as compared to 23,883 in the same month last year.

Similarly, sales of compact segment vehicles, including models Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, increased by 18.2 percent Y-o-Y to 77,641 units as against 65,673 cars in December 2019. While, mid-sized sedan Ciaz's sale declined by 28.9 per cent to 1,270 units as compared with 1,786 units in December 2019.

Among other details, MSI said utility vehicle sales, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, rose 8 percent Y-o-Y to 25,701 units compared to 23,808 in 2019. While exports saw a rise by 31.4 per cent at 9,938 units in December as against 7,561 units in 2019.

The auto major reported a growth of 13.4 percent in total sales at 4,95,897 units in the third quarter of FY 2020-21 (October-December quarter) over the same period previous year.

(With inputs from agencies)