Automobile companies which import parts to assemble cars in India are facing a dilemma. The falling of Rupee has put an extra pressure on these companies which are already facing worst slowdown in Indian market. Companies like Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Maruti and Audi are thinking of increasing car prices as depreciating Rupee, which touched 52 Rs/USD, has forced them to pay more for parts and components that are imported.
“The rupee depreciation is adding to the cost and we will be going in for a revision from January next year,” Toyota Kirloskar Deputy MD (sales & marketing) Sandeep Singh said. The company has already hiked the car prices to 1.5% just in October.
“The hike could be of a similar range or even more,” Singh added. Toyota’s vehicles like Innova and Fortuner have 50% imported parts and the falling rupee has made their costs higher.
GM India imports engines for models like Spark, U-VA , Aveo and Optra and costs of all these has been impacted. “This is definitely putting a lot of pressure and is negatively impacting us. Obviously, we are looking at passing the extra cost to the market and now this may happen earlier than the previously-planned revision in January,” General Motors India V-P P Balendran said.
Luxury carmaker Audi said it may have to look at the prices to factor in rising costs. “With the continuous devaluation of the rupee vs the euro and the dollar, we cannot rule out the necessity of realigning our pricing,” Audi India MD Michael Perschke said.
