The automotive market is not faring too well as sales of passenger cars have plunged for the nine straight months now. Auto companies are finding it hard to maintain business and sustain profitability. The situation seemingly is also hampered by marked dip in the value of rupee against the US dollar. Amid such a crisis situation, many car companies have gone ahead to increase the price of their various models that are available in the auto market. To this Ford India is also no exception as it has announced a price hike on different models available in the Indian auto market. This price hike will be between 1 to 5 per cent and will be put into immediate effect. The decision seems to taken by the auto maker to negate the rising input costs. This also means that customers who plan to place order for a new Ford car will now have to bear a higher cost.
As reported, the comment from Ford India stated, “Effective September 5, 2013, the prices will be increased in the range of 1 per cent to 5 per cent across majority of Ford's products depending on specific model and trim.” A notable thing here is that the company has not gone ahead with the disclosure of full details.
Currently, many car models of Ford India are popular among domestic buyers and car enthusiasts. The list includes likes of compact car Figo, sedan Fiesta and EcoSport which has been recently launched in the compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) segment. Currently, Figo carries a price tag that ranges from Rs. 3.91 lakh to Rs. 6.08 lakh. The price of EcoSport lies between Rs. 5.59 lakh and Rs. 9.37 lakh while Fiesta's price ranges from Rs. 7.46 to Rs. 10.30 lakh (all prices are ex-showroom Delhi).
It must be noted that Ford India has gone ahead to revise prices of its various models owing to consistently rising input costs because of multiple factors. To highlight, inflation has been on rise, interest rates have gone higher and rupee has weakened a lot against the strong US dollar. From the view of Vinay Piparsania, who is Ford India's Executive Director, Marketing, Sales and Service, “Input costs have been consistently increasing and this is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Although we have absorbed increases in costs over the past period, the situation is such that we now need to revise the prices of our vehicles.”
Ford India has joined the league of companies who have already gone ahead with the announcement of price hikes across various models. Notably, in August 2013, German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz reportedly hiked prices of its entire model range that is available in India by a margin of up to 4.5 per cent effective from 1st September 2013. The decision was attributed by the auto maker towards rupee depreciation and higher import duties. General Motors had also announced a price hike of up to Rs. 10,000 on its three models from first week of September. Earlier, BMW group hiked prices by up to 5 per cent while in July, Audi had announced a price hike of up to 4 per cent across its models in the country.
