It is the season of price hikes and cars are set to take the pricey way.
 
India’s market leader Maruti Suzuki said on Monday it was finalising an increase in the prices of its vehicles and would notify it later this week, indicating that a fresh round of hikes in the domestic car industry was coming.

Depreciation of the rupee against the Japanese yen is forcing many companies to increase prices as imports have become more expensive.
 
On Monday, Honda Cars India raised by 0.2-2.6% the prices of its two hatchbacks, Brio and Jazz, and best-selling sedan City.

Last month, Toyota announced a 1.5% price increase which came into effect from September 1.
 
"There is pressure on our margins due to the foreign exchange fluctuation. We’ve to take a call on the prices,” said Mayank Pareek, chief operating officer (marketing and sales), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
 
The company sells a range of models starting with the M800 to the luxury sedan Kizashi, which are priced between Rs. 2.04 lakh and Rs. 17.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The company said it was looking to reduce its forex exposure by nearly 65% to $600 million ( Rs. 3,240 crore) by March 2015 for which it was working with its vendors to cut back imports.

The company is also gearing up for the festive season, a time for big buys, with the launch of Alto 800 next month.