Mahindra to hike vehicle prices in January by over 1%

Mahindra & Mahindra said it will increase prices of its vehicles by over one per cent across various models in January to offset rising input costs. "We are also contemplating a price hike across various models. The quantum is yet to be decided but it will be one per cent and above. This will take place in the first half of January," Mahindra & Mahindra Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah told PTI.

Also Read: Domestic car sales down 8% in November

He said the price hike was required in order to offset the impact of rising input costs, mainly from the commodity prices, and also adverse currency movements. The price hike will impact both commercials and personal vehicles segment, he added. M&M's personal vehicle portfolio has a range of models starting from Bolero to Rexton, which are available at prices starting at Rs 5.65 lakh and goes up to Rs 19.75 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Already other car makers such as Maruti Suzuki India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and General Motor India have announced plans to hike prices from January. Similarly, Honda Cars India, Volkswagen and Nissan are also considering such a move. In the luxury segment, Audi and Mercedes Benz have also said they are increasing prices from January.

In November M&M reported 18 per cent increase in total sales at 48,143 units. Its domestic sales stood at 46,755 units, up 23 per cent from the same month last year. Driven by newly launched Quanto and Rexton, the passenger vehicles segment registered an increase of 38 per cent at 24,604 units. When asked if the company is offering discounts in December to push sales, Shah said: "In our models such as Rexton, Quanto and XUV500 there is no scope for discounts as these are still having waiting period."

On other models such as Bolero, Xylo and Scorpio there will be market schemes in order to woo customers who generally stay away from buying new vehicles due to model-year change in December, Shah said. For instance, the company is offering discount of up to Rs 30,000 on Bolero.