Fuel prices might be witnessing a downward trend, however, that grin on our faces might shrink a little now. The Government’s decision to charge a higher rate of Excise duty and higher input costs has led manufacturers to hike car prices across segments. Honda Cars India has hiked prices of the entry level Brio in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 18,000. Prices for the Amaze have been hiked in the range of 19,000 to Rs 26,000 while the Honda City will be dearer by up to Rs 48,000. The prices of petrol variants of the car have gone up by Rs 33,000 to Rs 46,000, while the diesel variants have become expensive in the range of Rs 37,000 to Rs 48,000. Prices for their flagship, the CR-V has been hiked by Rs 60,000.
Chevrolet has also announced a hike of Rs 15,000 to Rs 61,000 depending upon the various models and variants with effect from January 2015. The Chevy Spark will be dearer in the range of Rs 15,739 to Rs 18,300, while for the Beat, one will need to shell out anything between Rs 15,739 to Rs 18,300 more. The Sail hatchback will cost Rs 20,458 to Rs 36,387 more throughout the range and the Sedan will become dearer in the range of Rs 22,365 to Rs 35,820. Prices of Cruze sedan have been hiked in the range of Rs 46,960 to Rs 55,561. The people mover Enjoy will be costlier by Rs 24,901 to Rs 35,319 while the Tavera will cost Rs 24,799 to Rs 60,982 more.
Citing adverse market conditions, Hyundai has hiked the price of entry level small car Eon by Rs 15,417. The i10 will be dearer by Rs 21,501 while the Grand i10 will be costlier by Rs 22,508. The Korean car maker’s compact sedan Xcent will cost Rs 25,597 more and the Mid-sized sedan Verna will cost Rs 23,965 more from the earlier price point. The Elantra will be dearer by Rs 36,912. HMIL has hiked prices of the petrol variant of its premium sedan Sonata by up to Rs 45,396 while the Santa Fe will be dearer by Rs 1.27 lakh. Other manufacturers like Tata and Maruti are also expected to shortly announce a hike in car prices, while premium manufacturers like BMW had already announced last month that starting 2015, their cars will cost more.