Now pay more for these luxe wheels

After the recent announcement of hike in customs and excise duties on luxury cars in the Union Budget, many car companies in India have decided to increase the prices of their products. In line are Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW which have decided to put the burden of the duty hike on the customer. Ammar Alvi has more.

The first German luxury car maker to announce a price hike was Mercedes-Benz which decided to increase its prices with effect from April. The company decided to make its range dearer by 1-4 per cent for locally produced models and up to 20 per cent for select CBUs (Completely Built Units).

“There are several factors that have put significant pressure on our bottomlines. Rising input costs and volatile exchange rates have impacted us; while the recent changes in import duty structure and increase in relevant taxes have put significant stress on our business. We have absorbed a portion of the impacts but to retain business viability, we are forced to pass on a part of this burden to the consumers,” said Eberhard Kern, managing director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.

Audi, the Ingolstadt-based German luxury car manufacturer, on

the other hand announced an increase in prices of select models in India. The increase on the Audi Q range SUVs is close to 2.5 per cent and on the sporty performance range—Audi R8 and Audi RS5—is close to 15 per cent. The increase in price was effective from March 16.

Michael Perschke, head, Audi India, said: “According to the 2013-14 Union Budget, there has been an upward revision in customs duty and excise duty, based on conditional clause on select models. Due to this development we are forced to make a correction in our prices. We understand the overall market scenario is challenging. However, we are offering the customers customised and innovative finance options from Audi Finance which will make their purchase more attractive.”

Meanwhile BMW will shortly announce if there is a revision and to what extent its cars will get costlier. Other companies like Toyota have also revised their prices.