Indian automaker Tata Motors said on Friday (Apr 14) it will raise prices of its passenger vehicles due to an increase in input costs and regulatory changes that make it costlier to produce cars, the second time this year it will make such a move.

“The weighted average increase will be 0.6 per cent, depending on the variant and model,” the car maker said in a press release, adding it will come into effect from May 1.

Tata Motors previously hiked the price of its passenger vehicles by 1.2 per cent in January this year, citing the same reason.

Vehicles across segments in India have gotten costlier with the government mandating automakers to fit their vehicles with a special device to monitor emissions, leading to extra costs.

These fuel emission norms, known as Bharat Stage VI norms, came into effect at the beginning of the month.

India marked its highest-ever sales of passenger cars in the fiscal year ended March 31, despite multiple price increases through the year, led by sales of larger and pricier sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

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Tata’s Nexon and Punch SUVs were among India’s top-selling cars in 2022.

However, auto sales growth is expected to taper to a low single-digit percentage in the current fiscal year, mainly due to inflation, price hikes by carmakers and regulatory changes, auto dealers’ body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada) said earlier this month. REUTERS