Maruti to raise prices on rising costs, sees sales dip

Team Udayavani, Aug 2, 2018, 1:03 PM IST

New Delhi: Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki on Wednesday said it would hike prices across models this month to offset the impact of increase in commodity costs and fuel prices coupled with rupee devaluation.

R.S. Kalsi, senior ED marketing and sales, however, said the firm was still working out the extent of the increase.

The company reported a marginal decline of 0.6% in sales of domestic passenger vehicles year-on-year for July to 1,53,298 units.

July 2017 was a good month for automakers as the roll-out of the GST in the beginning of the month put an end to uncertainty surrounding new levies, driving sales from manufacturers to the dealers.

Toyota and Ford too reported a fall in sales. Toyota Kirloskar Motor saw a 22.94% dip in domestic sales to 13,677 units in July, while Ford India posted a 4% decline in total sales to 25,028 units

‘Mini cars, UVs fall’

Maruti Suzuki said sales of mini cars — Alto and WagonR, slid 11% to 37,710 units, while those of compact segment models — including Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, rose 17.8% to 74,373 units. Sales of utility vehicles — Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga — declined 4.9% to 24,505 units.

Exports for the month also slumped 9.9% to 10,219 units. However, Hyundai Motor India recorded a 7.7% rise in total sales to 59,590 units in July.