Toyota announces price hike of 3% on its cars from January 2017

The hike in price is due to the increase in raw material prices which it had been absorbing for a while.

A Toyota RAV4 is seen at Chicago Auto show in Chicago, the United States, on Feb. 19, 2016. The Chicago Auto Show 2016 lasts from Feb. 11 to 21. Xinhua/He Xianfeng/IANS

Toyota Kirloskar Motor announced on Monday that it will increase the prices of its cars up to 3% effective from January 1, 2017. The decision is in line with the general industry trend prompted by increasing cost of manufacturing vehicles and a consistent upward trend in foreign exchange rates, it said.

N Raja, Director & Sr Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, "There has been an increase in pricing of raw material commodities like steel, aluminum, copper and rubber over a period of the last six months and this puts a lot of pressure on us as all this has been leading to a higher input cost on our end. Another factor leading to higher input cost in our case is the appreciation of yen in the international market which has increased the cost of parts that we import from Japan.”

He further said that they have been absorbing all the additional costs till now thereby protecting their customers from the price increase. However, owing to continued pressure of high costs and foreign exchange rates remaining at high levels of above Rs 68 to the dollar, they have been pressured to increase the cost of their vehicles.

The company witnessed a growth of over 10% in domestic sales in the month of November 2016 owing to the overwhelming response the recently launched all-new Fortuner has received.

In addition, the company also announced the Remember December Campaign which will provide exciting product offerings and benefits of 100% on road financing, EMI Holidays like- buy now and pay in March 2017- on all its models and a special EMI package of as low as Rs 22,999 in select models of Innova Crysta.

"The Remember December campaign is not just about offering benefits on our products but it is also an effort from our side to meet the needs of the customers to help them overcome difficulties caused due to demonetisation. Not just that, we are also accepting cashless payments through various channels of e-transfers to ensure smooth & hassle free buying experiences for our customers thus adding more value to the customer experience and meeting their expectations," added Raja.

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