Bajaj Auto announces price hike of up to INR 1500

Bajaj Auto cites change in emission norms to be key reason behind price hike.

Post the launch of the Bajaj Dominar 400 at an aggressive price tag, Bajaj has announced that they will be increasing the prices of their motorcycles by INR 1,500 from January 2017.

India currently follows BSIII emission norms for two-wheelers and as per the government mandate, all manufacturers will have to move to BSIV norms by April 1, 2017. While car makers have already announced a price hike applicable from January, Bajaj becomes the first two-wheeler to do so. Before this, Honda, TVS, Suzuki and Hero have already launched products with BSIV compliance.

The rising cost of raw materials like steel, aluminium, oil and rubber have also caused input costs to rise. Anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel has been a major problem for OEMs. Rising oil prices due to the reduction in production has been an issue as well.

The hike will range between INR 700 to INR 1,500 depending on the model and variant. The hike, however, will not affect the recently launched Bajaj Dominar 400.