Maruti Suzuki announces rate hike from September; shares jump

Over the past year, the cost of Maruti Suzuki vehicles continues to be adversely impacted, the company said, citing an increase in various input costs. It has become imperative to pass on some impact of the additional cost to the customers through a price rise, Maruti Suzuki added.

In the July-August period, Tata Motors, Honda Cars, Mahindra & Mahindra, Renault, and Toyota also hiked their pricing. The increases were implemented to compensate for rising raw material costs, such as steel and precious metals.

Earlier during the month, Maruti said that the output at their Gujarat factory would be hampered due to the semiconductor scarcity. Suzuki Motor Gujarat will tentatively not be carrying out production on three Saturdays in the month of August and some production lines may temporarily operate only one shift.

According to industry estimates, as a result of this Maruti Suzuki might lose 12,000 units in the first two weeks of August. Suzuki Motor Gujarat is responsible for producing some of Maruti Suzuki's most popular models, including Baleno, Swift, and Dzire, which accounted for about 43,000 of the 1,36,000 units sold in the domestic market in July.

Maruti Suzuki shares were among the top gainers in the auto pack in morning deals. The S&P BSE Auto index which tracks shares of 15 major players in the country's automobiles sector traded 1.39 percent higher. Analysts also awaited the company's monthly sales report due this week.