With rising input prices and an increase in shipping costs, luxury cars and consumer durable goods could become expensive in the new year.
For instance, German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India will be increasing its vehicle prices by up to 3 per cent from January 2025.
“Over the past three quarters, we have been facing increased pressure on our cost structure primarily driven by escalating material cost, fluctuating commodity pricing, increased logistics expenses and inflationary cost. While we have been absorbing these cost pressures by optimising our operational costs and driving higher efficiencies, the overall bottom line is getting impacted, considering the current challenges,” said Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India.
“To ensure the sustainability of our business we have decided on a nominal price correction. This price correction will apply to those vehicles currently not in stock, offering price protection for all existing and future bookings until December 31st,” he added.
BMW Motorrad India will increase prices by 2.5 per cent across its models from January 1, 2025.
“The strategic price corrections are driven by rising overall input costs and inflation pressures. The decision will support in ensuring profitability and high standards of BMW Motorrad excellence in terms of quality, performance and brand experience,” said BMW Motorrad in a statement.
Audi India will determine to increase vehicle prices in the coming week.
“There have been changes in the shipment of materials and cars. Earlier the cost of shipment was one of the tiny little pieces of the pricing which is not the case anymore. The cost of shipment has gone up significantly. We are working on whether to increase the vehicle prices and will decide next week,” said Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India.
Consumer durables
Prices of white goods could see an uptick of up to 10 per cent.
“Due to global tension, there are price increases in raw material and freight cost. We can see the effect immediately. The prices across all categories in televisions will increase around 10 per cent in January,” said Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO of SPPL.
However, the festive season sales uptick has helped consumer durable makers.
“The television market is currently in a stabilisation phase following robust Diwali sales. Our brand partners also maintain adequate stock, minimising the likelihood of immediate price changes. However, we will continue to monitor material and shipping cost fluctuations closely and make necessary adjustments in the future,” said Arjun Bajaj, Director, Videotex.