After Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki announces plan to increase car prices by up to 4% from January 2025

India's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, on Friday announced that it will increase the prices of its vehicles by up to 4% from January 1, 2025. The price hike, the company stated in a regulatory filing, is necessitated by rising input costs and operational expenses.

“The price increase is expected to be up to 4% and will vary depending on the model. While the company continuously strives to optimize costs and minimize the impact on its customers, some portion of the increased cost may need to be passed on to the market,” the filing stated.

In the quarter ended September 2024, Maruti Suzuki reported a 17.4% decline in standalone net profit to ₹3,069.2 crore, down from ₹3,716.5 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. While revenue from operations saw a marginal increase of 0.37% to ₹37,202.8 crore, the company's EBITDA fell by 7.7% to ₹4,417 crore, with margins shrinking by 100 basis points to 11.9%.

Domestic vehicle sales for the quarter declined by 3.9% to 463,834 units, even as export volumes grew 12.1% to 77,716 units.

The automotive sector as a whole has been under pressure due to rising costs of raw materials and increased logistics expenses.

Hyundai Motor India, Maruti's closest competitor, announced a price hike on Thursday, citing rising costs as the primary reason. Hyundai’s price increase will also come into effect from January 1, 2025, and applies to its 2025 model year vehicles.

Various luxury automakers Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi have also announced to hike vehicle prices from next month.