Renault To Hike Koleos Price By One Lakh

Published: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 16:13 [IST]

The depreciating rupee has found yet another carmaker that will increase car prices. French carmaker Renault has announced that it will increase the price of the Koleos SUV by a whopping Rs.1 lakh effective from 1st January. The company has said the falling value of the rupee had lead to an increase in input cost.

In its statement to the media Renault has said: “In the face of the huge devaluation of the Indian rupee against major currencies, the company was forced to revise the price of the Koleos... The new prices will be effective from the January 1, 2012. The Koleos will now be available at Rs 23.99 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).

Earlier, it was offered at a price of Rs 22.99 lakh."
Renault India Managing Director Marc Nassif said: "This has been necessitated by the increase in the cost of raw materials and fluctuations in the currency market. Until now we have been absorbing the increases, but we now have to reflect an element of these costs in our pricing."

The Koleos was launched in India in September as a premium SUV competing against the likes of the Audi Q7 and the BMW X5. The carmaker wanted to keep its image in India as a premium carmaker and has added several luxury features to the car. However the high asking price has been a deterrent to several buyers.

Renault joins Nissan, Hyundai, Ford, Toyota Kirloskar and General Motors that have increased car prices effective from January.