GM to hike prices, other carmakers may follow suit

Carmaker General Motors India today said it would hike prices of its models by 2 to 3 per cent from next month as input costs have risen.

''We will increase prices across all eight models by 2 to 3 per cent from the first week of July,'' General Motors India vice-president P Balendran said.

He added that prices of commodities like steel and rubber have risen sharply since the second quarter of last year, the company has therefore been forced to increase prices.

Other leading carmakers like Toyota, Ford and Fiat are also expected to follow suit and have said that were considering a price increase if commodity prices continued on the uptrend.

Overall, commodity prices have seen a 25-per cent increase in recent times.

Carmakers have hiked prices thrice in the year already, first in January due increased input costs, second on a two per cent rise in excise duty in the union budget and third after the introduction of new emission norms.

According to Toyota Kirloskar Motors' deputy managing director (marketing) Sandeep Singh, the company was in the process of reviewing the situation this time and would take a call by the month-end. He added that commodity prices had gone up sharply in recent days.

Fiat India Automobiles' chief executive officer Rajeev Kapoor, said input costs had sharply risen in recent times but the company had not yet decided on a price hike.