Maruti Suzuki weighs price hike amid rising input costs
What's the story
Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker, is considering a price hike for its vehicles. The move comes amid rising input costs and strong consumer demand after recent GST rate cuts. Partho Banerjee, the company's Senior Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales), said that the rise in commodity prices, especially precious metals, is significantly increasing costs. However, he did not indicate the timeline for the price hike.
Cost management
We are trying to manage rising costs through efficiencies: Banerjee
Banerjee further said that Maruti Suzuki is trying to manage these rising costs through efficiencies in its supply chain and manufacturing processes. However, he also noted that if the cost pressures continue, they may have to pass these on to customers. "Our endeavor, being a market leader, has always been to minimize the cost increase to our customers," he said.
Customer assurance
Price protection scheme for 1st-time customers
To tackle the issue of delayed deliveries due to production constraints, Maruti Suzuki had launched a price protection scheme in January. Banerjee said this was done to ensure first-time customers entering the four-wheeler segment get an opportunity to upgrade without worrying about price hikes. "There will be no price increase (for those customers)," he clarified.
Sales performance
Record sales and exports in January
Maruti Suzuki recently reported its highest-ever monthly sales of 2,36,963 units in January. The company's exports also hit a record with 51,020 units for the month. Banerjee said they have a backlog of 1.75 lakh pending orders due to supply constraints but are working to ramp up production capacity with new plants coming online by April 2026.