chennai is march turning into a december opportunity for motown not that temperatures are dipping but the flurry of price increase announcements that normally happen in december with effect from january 1 is now doing a repeat performance in march with effect from april 1 already companies like nissan ashok leyland tata motors and audi have announced their price hike plans others like mm mercedes benz and bmw are on the verge of announcing mark ups mercedes benz for instance will hike prices by 355 though the timeline has not yet been decided bmw had announced an april hike at the auto expo in february but is still working out the details audi has already announced an up to 4 price increase ranging from rs 19 lakh effective from april 1 toyota kirloskar motor is evaluating a price increase most premium and luxury brands are opting for a mark up to work in the increase in cbu customs duty announced in the budget in the wake of increase in basic customs duty we will be correcting the prices of the entire model range by 355 very soon though the price correction is imminent we are yet to decide on a date but it will be in the coming months said roland folger md ceo mercedesbenz india as for lessimportheavy vehicles the most common reason cited for the mark up is the increase in input costs auto marketers say the core input that is driving the price mark ups is steel which has seen significant hardening since early this year the company may have long position on a core input like steel but its pricing will depend on how much cost pressure it can absorb said a mass passenger vehicle marketer not all mass market brands are hiking prices though maruti suzuki for instance has indicated no hikes are on the anvil hyundai too does not have anything planned for now ford has already taken an up to 4 hike in march auto analysts however say there may also be other reasons for this sudden midyear mark up the commercial vehicle market has picked up speed and is doing very well so its understandable that truck and bus companies want to improve margins with a price hike particularly since the discounts run really deep in these segments said a senior commercial vehicle marketer naysayers also say this is a good way of clearing stock before the end of the financial year for those brands cv or pv which are selling on deep discounts the price hike may be a means to even that out without losing sales in the process said a mumbaibased auto analyst by nandini sen gupta tnn published on mar 29 2018 at 0339 pm ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will