Toyota to hike prices of vehicles across models by up to 4% from January 1

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Tuesday said it will increase prices of its vehicles across models by up to 4 per cent from January 1, 2019, to offset increasing manufacturing costs due to rupee depreciation.

The company considered the price hike after periodically reviewing the continuous pressure of increasing manufacturing costs, which is also a general industry phenomenon, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said in a statement.

There has been an impact in the cost of manufacturing of vehicle primarily due to rupee depreciation,” the company said.

Toyota has been absorbing the additional costs all this while, protecting the customers from price increase, it added.

“However, due to the continued pressure of high costs, we have to pass on a part of it to customers. Toyota is considering a price increase of up to 4 per cent across models with effect from January 1, 2019,” it said.

The company currently sells a range of vehicles starting from hatchback Liva to luxury SUV Land Cruiser, which are priced between Rs 5.25 lakh and Rs 1.41 crore.

Meanwhile, General Motors Co said on Monday it will cut production of slow-selling models and slash its North American workforce in the face of a declining market for traditional gas-powered sedans, shifting more investment to electric and autonomous vehicles.

The announcement is the biggest North America restructuring for the U.S. No. 1 carmaker since its bankruptcy a decade ago. Its shares rose 7.6 percent to $38.66.GM plans to halt production next year at three assembly plants: Lordstown, Ohio; Hamtramck, Michigan; and Oshawa, Ontario. It will also stop building several models now assembled at those plants, including the Chevrolet Cruze, the Cadillac CT6 and the Buick LaCrosse. The Cruze compact car will be discontinued in the U.S. market in 2019.

Plants in Baltimore, Maryland, and Warren, Michigan, assembling powertrain components will have no products assigned to them after 2019 and are at risk of closure, GM said. It will also close two unidentified factories outside North America.”We are right-sizing capacity for the realities of the marketplace,” Chief Executive Mary Barra said, adding that GM will double resources dedicated to electric and self-driving vehicles over the next two years.