KARACHI: Despite a stronger rupee in the last five months, Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL) on Friday shocked buyers with a massive price hike of Rs65,000-180,000 for various models.

In the first week of September 2023, one dollar was trading at Rs307.10 in the interbank market as compared to the current rate of Rs279.19, thus bringing down the landed cost of imported parts and accessories.

Without mentioning any reason of price hike in the circular issued to the authorised dealers, PSMCL has enhanced the price of Suzuki Alto VX, VXR, VXR AGS and VXL AGS to Rs2.331 million, Rs2.707m, Rs2.894m and Rs3.045m from Rs2.251m, Rs2.612m, Rs2.799m and Rs2.935m, up by Rs80,000-95,000.

With a jump of Rs110,000-180,000, the new prices of Suzuki Cultus VXR, VXL and AGS models are Rs3.858m, Rs4.244m and Rs4.546m versus Rs3.718m, Rs4.084m and Rs4.366m.

Suzuki Swift GL MT, GL CVT and GLX CVT now carry new price tags of Rs4.421m, Rs4.719m and Rs5.125m as compared to Rs4.366m, Rs4.654m and Rs5.040m, up by Rs65,000-85,000.

Justifying the price hike, PSMCL’s Head of Corporate Affairs Shafiq Ahmed Sheikh claimed that the company had not increased the prices for over a year despite suffering huge losses due to suspension of production for several reasons.

He said given inflation, overhead expenses, increasing raw material and accessories costs and shipment/freight charges have made it very difficult for Pak Suzuki to hold the current selling prices.

In addition to the Red Sea situation, it was difficult for the company to control prices due to higher freight expenses. He claimed that the company had passed a minimal portion to the consumers while it was absorbing the major portion of higher costs.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2024