Get set to feel more heat this summer as major consumer durable manufacturers are mulling to hike prices of air conditioners by 2-4% within a fortnight to marginalise the impact of rising input costs. This would translate into a minimum increase of Rs 300 to Rs 600 for an air conditioner of Rs 15,000 or an increase of up to Rs 2,000 on an air conditioner worth Rs 50,000.
?Input cost of most commodities has gone up substantially, thus squeezing the margins of all players beyond the tolerance level. So a marginal increase of 2-3% across products, more so on air conditioners and refrigerators, is expected by May,? says an industry expert, adding that increase would impact the entry-level products the most as they are more in demand.
?Samsung India might go for a hike in prices of air conditioners shortly to counter the impact of tremendous increase in the input costs,? says R Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India. The Korean major had increased the prices of its mass-selling refrigerators by 2-3% in March and is now mulling to pass on the price hike on air conditioners to the customer to a small extent.
Adds V Ramachandran, director (sales and marketing), LG Electronics India Ltd, ?Vendors have been continuously asking for a price hike as cost of steel alone has gone up by almost 40% since January .
Though, so far we have tried to absorb the increase in input cost by keeping the prices intact but if the commodity prices do not stabilize at this level, we might evaluate the option of increasing the prices.?
According to an industry analyst, summer being the peak season for sales of refrigerators and air conditioners, companies across the industry would not shy away from going in for a price hike.
