Apollo Tyres to hike prices by up to 6% from April

Apollo Tyres has said that it will hike the prices of its products by up to 6 per cent from April to offset the spiralling raw material costs.

The market leader also cautioned that the tyre industry could be in red unless there is a substantial increase, a minimum of up to 10 per cent, in product prices.

“From April onwards, we will be increasing tyre prices as the overall raw material costs have gone beyond manageable levels,” the Apollo Tyres Chief (India Operations), Mr Satish Sharma, told PTI.

From the first quarter of the next fiscal, Mr Sharma said the prices of bias commercial vehicle tyres will go up by 3 per cent while that of truck and bus radial tyres will be dearer by 6 per cent.

“For the passenger cars, we had increased in February by about 3 per cent and again we will raise it by another 3 per cent,” he added.

Prices of the company’s passenger vehicle tyres vary between Rs 2,150 and Rs 12,500 per unit. Radial tyres of truck and bus are available for Rs 16,900-20,200.

During the ongoing fiscal, raw material prices have gone up by about 35-36 per cent against which the company has raised tyre prices by 16-17 per cent, he added.

Mr Sharma said the domestic tyre industry is facing a tough situation as competition and market forces are preventing it from hiking prices beyond three per cent.

“Globally, since January Michelin and Bridgestone have increased prices by 8-12 per cent, while Goodyear has upped by 15 per cent. In India we also need to take a cue from them,” he said.

Citing the company’s internal study, he said in the first quarter of the next fiscal the raw material cost are expected to be 20 per cent higher than the last quarter of the ongoing financial year.

“Our understanding is that it will remain at that level. If nothing is done, the industry will be in the red. It will require a minimum price hike of 10 per cent for the tyre makers to be in black,” he said.

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