Renault India Mulls Hike In Prices

The French automaker, Renault, has been having an impressive run in the Indian automotive industry, thanks primarily to its blockbuster hatchback, the Kwid. The pocket-friendly car has helped Renault carve out a considerable market share for itself in the segment, and has become one of the most sold cars in the country after being in production for just over a year. Now that Renault has made its mark, it is time for the automaker to revise the price list across its portfolio since input costs have gone up.

Speaking to PTI, Sumit Sawhney, MD and CEO at Renault India Operations, said, “Yes, we will be increasing the prices as input costs have gone up. We are currently evaluating the period as when to undertake the exercise. The price hike is generally in the range of 1-2 per cent.”

If we calculate it in terms of monitory value and consider current ex-showroom prices in Delhi, a price hike of anywhere between Rs 2,600 and Rs 27,000 across the carmaker’s portfolio is on the cards. However, Renault isn’t the first automotive brand in the country to hike the prices of its offerings. Such revision of prices started in August 2016 when market leader Maruti Suzuki announced a price hike of up to Rs 20,000 on all its passenger vehicles. South Korean car firm Hyundai soon followed suit and hiked prices across its product portfolio around the same amount. Both automotive giants cited the common issue of higher input costs for the revision of price tags.

Home-grown automaker Mahindra increased the prices of its passenger and small commercial vehicles by up to 1 per cent from October 2016. Tata Motors isn’t far behind as it recently announced that a price hike will come into effect during the ongoing festive period.