Hit by rising input cost, the country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda on Monday hiked prices of its select models between Rs 500-1000.
” We have been trying to absorb rising commodity prices, but it has reached a stage where we need to pass it on to the customers,”? Hero Honda managing director Pawan Munjal said.
Most of the company’s models, including Splendor Plus, Passion Plus, CBZ, Ambition and Hunk will see an increase in? prices. The hike comes barely a month after the companies slashed prices following the excise duty cut on two-wheelers in the Budget. Hero Honda had then slashed prices between Rs 1,000-2,400. An all-time high prices of crucial inputs like steel, aluminum, nickel and rubber are adding to the woes of the auto companies .
”When the Budget reduced excise duty from 16% to 12%, we had passed on the benefits to our customers. But over the past few weeks a steep hike in the commodity prices has forced us to pass on the burden to the customers, ” Munjal said.
Reeling under rising input cost, recently some of the other leading manufacturers like TVS and Bajaj Auto also increased prices of some of their models. Bajaj Auto went for an increase of Rs 500-600.? The Pulsar model and 135-cc Discover? are the models where prices were increased.
TVS Motors? also raised prices of some of its models with overall hike falling between Rs 200-1000. While the price of 100-cc TVS Star City bike went up by Rs 1,000, the hike on the 160-cc Apache RTR was Rs 700.
The increase in input costs came as a jolt for the motorbike industry that has been struggling to prop up sales growth. Motorcycles sales fell 12% last fiscal and companies are betting on promotional schemes to attract buyers.
