With the start of the New Year, Indian car buyers may be in for a bit of a shock. You may have to pay more to buy a car. This is due to rising raw material prices and rupee weakness, the impact of which companies are gearing up to pass on to consumers.
Prices of precious metals such as copper, aluminum and palladium and rhodium have increased sharply. Due to this, many car companies may increase prices by up to 3 percent from January. Prices will go up for the first time after the reduction in GST rates from September 22.
how much more
Market experts say that companies usually increase prices at the beginning of the year and this may be seen in 2026 as well. Strong bookings and good demand in the coming months are the main reasons for this. However, due to stiff competition in the market, the increase may not be much.
Here comes the big reason
Average platinum prices rose 36 percent and palladium prices rose 19 percent in the eight months to November, according to ETIG data. At the same time, copper prices rose by 6 percent and aluminum prices by 3 percent. As precious metals are mostly imported, the rupee has weakened. Also, the last time the industry assessed production costs, the rupee was 88 against the dollar, which is around 90 now.
These companies announced
The auto and home appliance industry is highly dependent on steel, aluminum and copper. Apart from this, the change in energy rating system from next month will further increase the cost of production. Many auto companies have already announced price hikes. JSW MG Motor India has said that it will increase the prices of all its models by 2 percent from January 1. BMW Motorrad India has also announced a 6 percent hike in prices of its motorcycles from January 1. Luxury car company Mercedes-Benz India has also announced a 2 percent hike in prices of all its models from January 1.
Two-wheelers will also be expensive
Apart from this, electric scooter maker Ather Energy has also said that it will increase the price of all models by ₹3,000 from next month. The company attributed this to the rising cost of raw materials, foreign exchange fluctuations and high cost of electronic parts. Other companies may raise prices in the future.