Prices of Scorpio, Thar, Seltos shoot with the start of Festive Season

As the festive season brings about increased demand, automobile manufacturers have opted to raise the prices of their popular cars and SUVs starting from October 1. Mahindra & Mahindra has implemented price hikes of up to Rs 81,000 for models like Thar, Scorpio, XUV 300, and XUV 700. Meanwhile, South Korean automaker Kia has increased the prices of its popular SUV Seltos and multipurpose vehicle Carens by up to Rs 50,000. Hyundai, the country's second-largest carmaker, has raised the prices of its SUVs Venue and Tucson by up to Rs 48,000. Japanese carmaker Honda has made a more modest price adjustment, increasing the price of its popular City and Amaze models by approximately Rs 8,000.

These car manufacturers had previously refrained from passing on increased input costs to consumers, citing cost pressures last year. However, with the continued strong demand for these popular models, some of which even have waiting lists, auto giants have decided to implement price hikes.

Kia India has clarified that the initial prices were introduced as introductory offers and the recent revisions have occurred after six months, particularly for its Seltos model.

In the highly competitive automobile market, carmakers closely monitor each other's pricing strategies to avoid losing market share. Consequently, it is not uncommon for them to follow suit when prices are raised by competitors.