Maruti to hike car prices by next week

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India today said it will hike prices of its vehicles by within a week in order to offset impact of adverse foreign exchange fluctuation and rising input costs. Also Read:  New Maruti Alto 800 First Drive

"There is a lot of pressure on our margins due to the foreign exchange fluctuation and rising input costs. We will be increasing product prices within a week but the details are being worked out," Maruti Suzuki India Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek told PTI.

The company sells a range of models starting with the Maruti 800 to the luxury sedan Kizashi, which are priced between Rs 2.04 lakh and Rs 17.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Earlier in the day, the company had said that in order to counter the impact of adverse currency movement, it is targeting to reduce its forex exposure by nearly 65 per cent to USD 600 million by March 2015 for which it is working with its vendors to reduce imports.

Besides, the company is looking out for new markets to increase exports of its products to mitigate impact of unfavourable foreign exchange fluctuation.

The company's plans to hike product prices comes at a time when it is gearing up for the upcoming festive season with the launch of its all new Alto 800 next month.