General Motors hikes prices of vehicles by up to Rs 51,000

New Delhi: General Motors India Monday hiked prices of its entire vehicle range by up to Rs 51,000 in order to offset the impact of new levies proposed in the Union Budget 2016-17.

"We are undertaking price adjustments on the entire range of Chevrolet vehicles due to increase in cess and additional luxury tax announced in the Union Budget. The amount ranges from Rs 3,500 to Rs 51,000 depending on the model and the variant," General Motors India Vice-President Sales, Hardeep Brar told PTI.

The revised prices will be applicable from today across the entire range, he added.

"As part of our commitment to provide customer delight to new Cruze customers, we are retaining the strategic price positioning of entry-level LT variant at Rs 13.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)," Brar said.

General Motors sells a range of vehicles, from entry-level model Beat to premium SUV Trailblazer, priced between Rs 4.28 lakh and Rs 27 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Various carmakers including Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan have already announced price hike on their products.

The government has decided to impose 2.5 per cent cess on diesel vehicles of length not exceeding 4 meter and engine capacity not exceeding 1,500cc, while higher engine capacity and SUVs as well as bigger sedans were slapped with a cess of 4 per cent on the value of the car.

These are over and above a cess of 1 per cent on petrol/ LPG/CNG driven vehicles of length not exceeding 4 meter and engine capacity not exceeding 1,200cc.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also proposed to collect tax at source at the rate of 1 per cent on purchase of luxury cars exceeding value of Rs 10 lakh.