Nissan, Renault, Skoda to hike prices by up to Rs 50K from January 2016

New Delhi: Auto makers Nissan, Renault and Skoda will hike prices by up to Rs 50,000 from January next year to partially offset the impact of rising input costs.

All the three companies have announced to increase prices of their respective models by up to 3 per cent from first week of January, 2016.

"The price increase is to offset the rising input costs.

The revision of prices will soften the negative impact and help the company stay competitive," Nissan Motor India Managing Director Arun Malhotra said in a statement.

Nissan brand of vehicles in India range from the Micra hatchback to SUV Terrano with prices starting from Rs 4.47 lakh to Rs 12.91 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The Datsun range of vehicles include the entry level small car Datsun Go and multi-purpose vehicle Datsun Go Plus which are priced between Rs 3.23 lakh and Rs 4.76 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Renault India also announced to hike prices across its model range by up to 3 per cent from next month.

The company, which is a fully-owned subsidiary of France's Renault SAS, sells seven models - Kwid, Pulse, Scala, Duster, Lodgy, Fluence and Koleos, priced between Rs 2.56 lakh and Rs 23.47 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Besides, Czech auto maker Skoda will will hike prices of its entire model range by up to Rs 50,000 from January in order to offset the impact of rising input costs.

"The increase will vary from 2 to 3 per cent across the entire product portfolio. The new prices, effective from January 1, 2016, are in line with increasing input cost and changing market conditions," Skoda Auto India said in a statement.

The price increase will translate into a hike of around Rs 14,000 to Rs 50,000 depending on the model and the variant, it added.

Skoda Auto India currently sells four models -- Rapid, Octavia, Yeti and Superb -- priced between Rs 7.55 lakh and Rs 26.83 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Last week, the country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India had also said that it would hike prices of its vehicles across models by up to Rs 20,000 from January, joining competitors in making such a move.

Rival Hyundai Motor India had also announced that it would hike prices of its products by up to Rs 30,000 from next month to offset rising input costs and unfavourable foreign exchange fluctuation.

Already various car makers including Toyota, General Motors India and German luxury car makers Mercedes Benz and BMW have announced a hike in prices of their vehicles across models from January to offset rising input costs.

Experts believe carmakers usually come up with such year-end announcements which help them clear inventories left after the heavy festival discounts on vehicles.