From Toyota Etios Liva to Land Cruiser, prices set to rise

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is planning to increase vehicle prices from next month in order to partially offset the rise in input costs. The company, which is a joint venture between Japanese auto major Toyota and Kirloskar group, currently sells a range of vehicles from hatchback Etios Liva with price starting at Rs 5.49 lakh to luxury SUV Land Cruiser tagged at Rs 1.41 crore in the country.

“Challenges in terms of rising input costs have been there. We are holding on to it (price increase) for some time now. Shortly, we will be doing it. It could be even as early as next month,” TKM deputy managing director N Raja said. The company is currently working on the quantum of the price hike, he added.

Luxury car makers such as Audi, JLR and Mercedes-Benz have hiked prices ranging between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh from this month to pass on the increase in Custom duties.

When asked about sales growth in the current calendar year, Raja said the industry is expected to grow in the range of 8-9% and TKM growth is also likely to be in that range.

He added that the company expects hatchback and sedan segment to grow better this year as compared with last year (2017).

“Last year passenger car sales growth was 3-4%, but this year we expect the sedan and hatch segment to grow by around 6-7% on an average,” Raja said.

The company, which sells popular models like Innova and Fortuner, has now lined up a mid-sized sedan Yaris to compete with the likes of Honda City, Hyundai Verna and Maruti Ciaz.