Nissan Micra prices to go up

Nissan Motor India seems to have taken a cue from other car manufacturers in India and has hiked prices of its small car, the Micra, citing rising input costs as a key reason. The hike will vary from Rs. 2,500 to Rs.11,170 depending on the variant.

Rising input costs such as natural rubber (increased two fold from Rs. 100 – Rs. 200 per kg), steel and copper (up 12-15%) are forcing car makers to raise prices. At present the petrol variant of the Micra is sold in the price range of Rs. 4.06 lakh – Rs. 4.36 lakh and the diesel variant is available for Rs. 5.59 lakh – Rs. 6.05 lakh. Also read: Nissan Micra diesel road test

“The hike will be applicable on both petrol and diesel versions and will be in the range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 11,170,” an official statement from Nissan said.

Kiminobu Tokuyama , managing director and CEO of Nissan Motor India, said, “There has been a steady increase in the input cost over a period of time. It has come to a situation now that the price hike is inevitable and we have decided to increase the price of Micra.” Prices of imported models like the X-Trail, Teana and 370Z, however, remain the same for the time being. Nissan isn’t the only car maker to hike prices, with Toyota, Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Mahindra having raised prices of their products as well.

Toyota has increased the prices of its bestselling models in India such as the Innova, Corolla Altis and Fortuner by 1 – 1.5%. Customers will now have to shell out an additional Rs.12, 557 – Rs.18, 424 for the Toyota Innova depending on the variants. The Corolla Altis petrol’s price has been hiked by Rs.10,400 to Rs.14,500 while the diesel spec is dearer by Rs.14,100 to Rs.17,700. The Toyota Fortuner bore the heaviest brunt of the price hike with an increase of Rs. 20,000. Related: Toyota hikes prices of key models by as much as Rs.20,000

Tata Motors had already announced a price hike ranging from Rs. 3,000 – Rs. 15,000 depending on the models in its passenger car division. The price increase in Tata’s commercial vehicles ranged between Rs. 1500 – Rs. 30000. However, Tata Nano and Tata Aria have been exempted from this price hike.

Mahindra & Mahindra, too, has hiked the prices of all its vehicles comprising the Logan, Bolero, Scorpio and light commercial vehicles, Gio, Genio and Maxximo from Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 15,000 based on the models. Related: Mahindra hikes prices across entire range from Rs.7,000 to Rs.15,000