Car News in India

It is a bad news for both the automakers and the car buyers. The hike in the steel price has forced the car manufacturers to increase the car prices. It has put an additional burden of Rs 750 to Rs1 lakh on two-wheelers to commercial vehicles.

The steep prices of steel have given the auto industry a tough time. Some of the car manufacturers like Tata Motors and Mahindra Renault have already hiked the prices of their vehicles and the others will follow them shortly. The mid-size car Logan from Mahindra’s joint venture product with Renault will carry a new price. It is going to be costlier by Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000.

The price will vary from city to city. The petrol version of Logan has been increased from Rs 4.53 lakh to Rs 4.83 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. The company sold more than 3,000 units of Logan last month. However, small car leaders like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have retained their car prices. According to spokespersons of Maruti Suzuki, they are yet to respond to the cost pressure and Hyundai Motors as of now have no plans of price hike.

Tata Motors had recently slashed the prices of commercial vehicles by 2 per cent post-Union Budget. Though rising input cost is attributed as the reason behind the steel price hike, the company spokesperson declined to comment on how it will impact passenger cars and utility vehicles from the Tata Motors stable.

According to the latest SIAM data, in the year 2007-08, the passenger car segment grew by 12.17 per cent with 15,47,985 units being sold in the domestic market compared to 13,79,979 in the previous year. For the first time, exports of passenger vehicles crossed 2 lakh units in 2007-08 and ended the year with 2,17,054 units against 1,98,452 units in 2006-07.