GM cars to cost more from September

General Motors has announced that they will up the prices of their cars by Rs 10000 from next month. The depreciating value of the rupee has taken its toll on all car manufacturers and GM is no exception. With the rupee to dollar ratio expected to peak beyond 70 to 1, price hikes by auto manufacturers will be inevitable as they depend on imports even while assembling their cars locally.

GM has announced in a statement that the heavy discounting due to competitive pressure along with the plunging rupee are the major reasons behind the decision. Price hike have now been focused on their more successful model, with the Beat hatchback and Enjoy MPV will be increased by 1.5 per cent, which translates to a range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. The Beat currently sells from Rs 3.89 lakh to Rs 5.98 lakh while Enjoy is priced between Rs 5.09 lakh and Rs 8.05 lakh.

GM is not the first company to have opted for a price hike, with German manufacturer Audi had also hiked prices across its models in India by up to 4 per cent. The value of the currency is expected to drop further and has adversely affected manufacturers who are anxiously waiting for the festive season in India to improve the current gloom in automotive sector.

Source: ET