Car prices to increase from January 2013

It is customary for car makers to announce price hikes for the coming calendar year in December – a  move aimed at clearing their current year’s inventory.

But this year, most car makers had hiked prices in October itself owing to depreciating value of the rupee and rising input costs. And now some car makers have announced a second price hike in just three months. Related: Car makers threaten price hikes to clear inventories

Chevrolet has been the first to announce the end-of-year price hike ranging between 1 – 3 per cent across its model range, effective January 2013. Chevy blames the hike on rising inflation and raw material costs. The company currently sells six cars in India namely the Spark, Beat, Sail UVA, Tavera Neo 3, Cruze and Captiva. Prices of Chevy’s cars in India range from Rs  3.26 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the entry level Spark hatchback to Rs 24.60 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the top end Captiva SUV. Read More: Chevrolet announces price hike for January 2013

Indian passenger car market leader Maruti Suzuki announced that it will hike prices of its entire model range by up to Rs 20,000 in January 2013. Maruti Suzuki currently sells 14 models ranging from the new Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 starting at Rs. 2.41 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) to the Suzuki Grand Vitara priced at Rs. 24.61 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). 

Nissan has also announced a price hike of up to 3 per cent for January 2013 across its model range. Prices of Nissan cars range from Rs. 4.24 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the Micra hatchback to Rs. 26.40 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the X-Trail SUV. Read More: Nissan to hike prices in January 2013

Honda’s price hike will range between 0.8 per cent and 1.65 per cent for the Brio hatchback and City mid-size sedan. Prices of Honda cars range from Rs. 4.06 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) to Rs. 26.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the Honda Accord premium sedan. Related: Honda Brio, City to cost more from January 

French car maker Renault will implement a 1.5 per cent price hike across its model range from January 2013. Renault currently sells the Pulse hatchback, Scala mid-size sedan, Duster SUV, Fluence D-segment sedan and its flagship SUV Koleos. Prices of Renault cars in India range from Rs 4.27 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the entry level Pulse to Rs 23 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the Koleos. More details here: Renault to hike prices in January 2013

The price hike is not constricted to just mass market cars. Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz too will increase prices ranging between 1 – 3 per cent across its model range, effective January 2013. Mercedes-Benz currently sells 12 cars in India, namely the B-Class, C-Class, E-Class, CLS-Class, M-Class, GL-Class, G-Class, R-Class, S-Class, SLK-Class, SL-Class and the SLS AMG, with prices ranging from Rs  24.97 lakh (on-road New Delhi) for the B-Class B180 to Rs 2.50 crore (on-road New Delhi) for the S-Class S65 AMG.

Those planning to buy Toyota cars in January will also have to shell out an additional 1 – 2 per cent on all its models from January 2013. Toyota’s range comprises nine cars ranging from the Etios Liva hatchback priced at Rs. 4.44 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) to the Land Cruiser 200 luxury SUV priced at Rs. 99.27 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). 

Home-grown utility vehicle maker Mahindra too will hike prices by up to 2.5 per cent across its model range that begins with the Verito sedan at Rs. 5.29 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and goes all the way up to the XUV5OO SUV priced at Rs. 14.28 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The price hike will also apply on the Rexton SUV launched under the SsangYong brand on October 17, 2012 at Rs 19.67 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai) for the top-of-the-line AWD version. 

The remaining car makers in the market too are expected to announce price hikes soon. If this has dampened your spirits of buying a new car, there are some very attractive discounts on the market at the moment that have been offered by auto makers to clear their stock of vehicles manufactured in the 2012 calendar year. Some of the discounts are hefty enough to negate the lower resale value of an older model year car. 

Click Year-end discounts and offers on cars to browse through all the current deals and discounts on 2012 models.