Tata Motors to hike commercial vehicle prices by 2% from Jan

Automobile manufacturer Tata Motors will hike prices of its entire range of commercial vehicles by 2% from January 2023, the company notified in a regulatory filing. The development comes on the heels of other automakers such as Maruti Suzuki raising prices owing to a rise in input costs amidst soaring inflation. 

“Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, will be increasing the prices of its commercial vehicles up to 2% from January 2023. While the price increase will vary as per individual model and variant, it will be applicable across the entire range of commercial vehicles. The company has been absorbing a significant portion of the increased costs, but the steep rise in overall input costs has compelled it to pass on some proportion through this minimal price hike,” Tata Motors said in a statement.

In November, the company held the largest market share of 38.15% in the commercial vehicle segment and sold 30,282 units during the month, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA).

During the month, the company’s cumulative sales in the domestic and international markets stood at 75,478 vehicles as compared to 62,192 units in November 2021. Tata Motors' domestic sales surged 27% year-on-year to 73,467 in the month as compared to 58,073 in the year-ago period. Of all the commercial category verticals, Tata Motor's only two verticals -- passenger carriers and medium & heavy commercial vehicle segments -- registered positive growth in the quarter at 73% and 42%, respectively.

Following the development, the stock of Tata Motors surged marginally by 1.05% to ₹418. On Tuesday, shares of the company opened marginally higher at ₹419 as compared to the closing price of the previous session at ₹414. The BSE Sensex was trading 402 points or 0.65% higher at 62,533. 

During the session, the company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹73,667 crore as 2,60,823 shares exchanged hands on the BSE as compared to the two-week average of 6.37 lakh. The company hit a 52-week high of ₹528 on January 18, and a 52-week low of ₹366 on May 12 this year. 

Apart from Tata Motors, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer Maruti Suzuki Ltd has decided to increase prices across its entire range of vehicles starting January 2023. The company says it continues to see increased cost pressure driven by overall inflation and recent changes in rules by the government. The company has however not revealed by what percentage it is planning to hike the prices.

Last week, luxury automobile manufacturers Mercedes-Benz India and Audi India announced a hike in the price across their entire model range by up to 5% and 1.7% respectively, with effect from January 1, 2023, owing to high increasing inflationary pressures and high input costs. In September, Audi announced a price hike citing similar reasons. 

In November, two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp announced a price hike in the ex-showroom prices by up to ₹1,500 on its specific scooters and models from December 1.