Mahindra Scorpio, Bolero, other cars' prices hiked by up to Rs 36,000; old rates to apply till this date

If you are a car lover and were planning to buy a Mahindra beauty, here comes a major setback. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Wednesday confirmed that it will hike the prices of its range of personal vehicles. This means all the major cars by Mahindra including Scorpio and Bolero will get expensive. However, if you were intending to buy, then hurry as old rates will continue to be applied for this month. Mahindra said that the prices of various cars will go up by up to Rs 36,000 across models with effect from July 1. "This price increase is due to the implementation of AIS 145 safety norms across all passenger vehicles in India," the company said. Mahindra said the SUVs that will see a substantial price increase are Scorpio, Bolero, TUV300 and KUV100 NXT, while brands such as the XUV500 and Marazzo will see a marginal rate increase. 

Implementation of AIS 145 Safety Norms from July 1, 2019 mandates the fitment of several safety features including driver airbag, seat belt reminder for driver and co-driver, rear parking sensors and an over speed alert for the driver across all passenger vehicle models, the company added.

"At Mahindra, safety has been at the core of our product development process and we welcome the regulatory requirements relating to safety upgrades....However, the safety regulatory requirement has led to some cost increases. Consequently, we are taking a price hike across some of our passenger vehicles, effective July 1, 2019," M&M President - Automotive Sector Rajan Wadhera said.

In a notification dated 07.12.2017, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had asked motor vehicles of category M1, manufactured on and after the 1st day of July, 2019, to comply with additional safety features like seat belt reminder, manual over-ride, speed alert system, vehicle reverse gear sensor etc and its requirements as stipulated in Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 145 -2017 as amended from time to time. The information was given by the then Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Shri Mansukh Lal Mandavia in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

On the stock market, Mahindra and Mahindra shares were trading 1.13 per cent lower at Rs 618.90 apiece.