Maruti Suzuki IGNIS price hiked by ₹27,000; here’s why

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has increased the prices of its IGNIS hatchback, with immediate effect. "The price change varies across models and ranges up to ₹27,000 (ex-showroom-Delhi). The new prices are effective from today i.e. 24th February 2023," Maruti said in a statement. The Maruti Suzuki stock closed 0.76% down at ₹8,630 on the NSE today.

Maruti, in a statement to the stock exchanges, said IGNIS is now being equipped with Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) and Hill Hold Assist as a standard feature across all the variants, providing an added safety shield for its customers. It says the new version is also compliant with the upcoming E20 and Real Driving Emission (RDE) norms.

The Maruti Suzuki IGNIS comes in nine colours and is currently priced at ₹5.55 lakh onwards (Delhi, ex-showroom). It sports a 1.2 lt petrol engine with 6,000 rpm and 113NM torque.

"This finely tuned engine is optimised to give you a great drive whether you're cruising along the busy streets or manoeuvring through narrow lanes. The New Maruti Suzuki Ignis’ engine complies with the BS6 regulations and aims to further reduce carbon emissions," says the company.

Maruti Suzuki on January 16, 2023, had hiked prices across its model range by about 1.1%. Before that, Maruti hiked the prices of its popular hatchback models like Swift and all CNG variants and increased PV prices by around 8% from January 2021 to March 2022.

Maruti holds more than 40% of the market share in India's PV market. In the PV segment, the country's largest carmakers Maruti Suzuki Ltd and Hyundai Motor emerged as the top sellers in January, selling 1,50,046 and 45,799 units, respectively, and had a market share of 44.10% and 13.46%, respectively.

Despite price hikes and higher interest rates, automakers are seeing record sales, thanks to changing consumer behaviour and the importance of personal mobility. Another reason PV sales have not dipped in spite of higher prices and interest rates is the perceptible shift towards pricier utility vehicles, which include SUVs and MPVs.

The country's wholesale passenger vehicles sales volume rose 17.2% in January 2023 on a rise in demand for utility vehicles and better consumer sentiments. The auto wholesalers’ body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said the wholesale PV volume increased to a record high of 298,093 units in January 2023 as compared to 2,54,287 units dispatched to the dealers in the same month last year.

The auto giant had reported 129.55% growth in consolidated net profit for the October-December quarter at ₹2,391 crore as compared to ₹1,041.8 crore in the corresponding period last year, primarily driven by higher sales and a reduction in input costs.