Car prices go up as excise duty rises

After weeks of speculation and assumptions the car prices have finally gone up because of the rise in excise duty.

Top three players in the Indian automotive industry – Maruti-Suzuki, Honda and Hyundai – have increased the retail prices of their cars. This move was expected from the industry after centre gave some hints that it might remove the excise duty cut from December end.

This simply means that the automobile industry, which is already going through a slowdown, is expected to take another hit in terms of sales. Players like Maruti, Hyundai and Honda are likely to remain unaffected because of the image they enjoy, but other carmakers might go through a tough time because of this move from the central government.

Maruti is yet to inform its dealerships about the new prices, but Hyundai and Honda have decided to go ahead and implement the new prices from this week.

Confirming the price rise, Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Hyundai India said, “We have increased prices in the range of Rs. 15,000 - 1,27,000 and this has been done on account of the higher excise duty, increased cost of inputs and the currency fluctuations. The retail price for the entry-level Eon has gone up by Rs. 15,400, for the i10 by Rs. 21,500, for the Elite i20 by Rs. 27,000 and for the Santa Fe SUV by Rs. 1.27 lakhs.”

Another carmaker, Honda, increased its prices by up to Rs. 60,000. The entry level Brio comes now for Rs. 15,000 more, the Amaze sedan by Rs. 19,000 and the City by up to Rs. 48,000, company officials said.

Maruti-Suzuki has not yet said anything about the new prices but a rise of Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000 cannot be dismissed.