With new emission norms kicking in from April 1, car companies have once again increased prices, by one to three per cent across models, to offset the increase in cost of upgrading vehicle engines. This is the third rise in car prices since January.
The emission norms have risen from BS-III to BS-IV in 13 cities and from BS-II to BS-III in the rest of the country.
While Maruti Suzuki India raised prices from Rs 1,000 on the A-Star to Rs 9,000 on the SX4 with immediate effect, Hyundai Motor India said all new vehicles booked on and after April 1 would be more expensive by one to three per cent.
Toyota Kirloskar Motors raised prices between Rs 5,000 and Rs 23,000 across its Corolla, Fortuner and Innova models and General Motors India was expected to announce the revised prices on Monday. According to P Balendran, vice president, corporate affairs, GM India, ‘Since we have calibrated all our products to meet higher emission norms, there would be an increase in prices in the range of 0.5-1.5 per cent across all models, except the Beat.”
| SOARING COSTS | |
| Company | Price hike |
| A-Star& Ritz | Rs 1,000 |
| Estilo | Rs 2,500 |
| Omni & M800 | Rs 3,000 |
| Swift | Rs 3,750 |
| Dzire | Rs 7,000 |
| SX4 | Rs 9,000 |
| Eeco | Rs 10,000 |
| Gypsy | Rs 10,000 |
| Innova | Rs 20,000 |
| to Rs 23,000 | |
| Corolla | Rs 5,000 |
| to 14,000 | |
| Fortuner | Rs 10,000 |
This is the third rise in car prices since January. Major car companies had raised these by one to two per cent in January, citing higher input costs. Later, when the Centre partially rolled back the excise duty reduction on cars by two per cent in the Union budget, there was an immediate hike in prices, by up to two per cent.
The 13 cities following the most stringent, BS-IV, emission norms since April 1 are those in the National Capital Region, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur and Agra.