Mercedes hikes prices by up to 4.5 per cent
With BMW and Audi announcing price hikes in the recent past, it was only a matter of time that Mercedes-Benz too did the same. The German luxury automaker has given in to the effects of the falling rupee value and has raised the price of its entire model range in India by 2.5 to 4.5 per cent.
2014 Mercedes
Weakening exchange rates, higher import duties, rising input costs, higher interest rates and increase in other relevant taxes have evidently been cited as reasons for the price hike by a number of automakers in recent past. The rupee has already depreciated to Rs 69 per dollar, and the fall shows no signs of abating.
The 2013 Mercedes B-Class
With the latest revision, the company's new A-Class 180 CDI luxury compact will now cost Rs 22.05 lakh, an increase of 4 per cent. The B-Class 180 CDI luxury tourer will get pricier by 4 per cent at Rs 23.50 lakh. The C-Class 200 CGI Avantgarde luxury sedan gets a new price tag of Rs 32.25 lakh, a hike of 2.5 per cent. The newly launched E-Class 200 CGI Avantgarde saloon will now cost Rs 42.16 lakh, up by 3.5 per cent. The highly demanded ML-Class 250 CDI luxury SUV will now be priced at 50.98 lakhs up by 4 per cent. All of these prices are ex-showroom, Mumbai.
Earlier this month, BMW also hiked the prices across its range, including the Mini, by up to 5 per cent. Audi had earlier raised priced by up to 4 per cent. Earlier this week, General Motors India had hiked the price of its three models by up to Rs 10,000 from the first week of September.
"The rising input costs along with higher import duties have been creating significant pressure on our bottomlines for quite some time now. The constant weakening of the currency and the increase in other relevant taxes further impacted the business, adversely. We have been absorbing a significant portion of these impacts till now, but to run a sustained and profitable business in the long run, revising the prices upwards was inevitable," said Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.
Starts Rs 42.1 Lakhs
1950cc
Automatic
163
400
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