Honda Atlas increases prices by up to Rs100,000

Company is passing on surge in cost of production due to rupee devaluation

KARACHI: Honda Atlas - the maker of Civic, City and BR-V in Pakistan - has increased its variants' prices in the range of Rs20,000-100,000 to pass on the surge in cost of production arising from the recent rupee devaluation, dealers said on Tuesday.

"Honda has increased price of its Civic and City variants by Rs100,000 each and the BR-V by Rs20,000," a Karachi-based dealer confirmed to The Express Tribune.

The new prices of Honda Civic i-VTEC and i-VTEC Oriel are Rs2.51 million and Rs2.66 million, respectively, according to the pricelist.

City's manual 1.3L is now available for Rs1.71 million, City 1.3L's Prosmatec variant is now priced at for Rs1.85 million. City's Manual (1,500cc) is now worth Rs1.77 million, City's Prosmatec (1,500cc) is now valued at Rs1.91 million. City Aspire Manual (1,500cc) is priced at Rs1.90 million and City Aspire Prosmatec (1,500cc) has become costlier to Rs2.04 million.



Prices of BR-V i-VTEC and i-VTEC S surged to Rs2.26 million and Rs2.36 million, respectively.

The move comes barely a week after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) devalued the rupee by 4.4% to Rs115.40 to the US dollar in the inter-bank market. The central bank has so far devalued the currency by a total of 9.4%, including the 5% fall in December 2017.

This is the second time in a short span of three months that the Japanese car manufacturer has increased prices. Both times, it revised its prices upwards after rupee devaluation.

Late last week, Indus Motor Company increased prices for the second time since  December.



Pak Suzuki has also increased its rates twice since December.

The devaluation has increased the cost of manufacturing in Pakistan, as car makers heavily rely on imported raw material, mostly steel, industry officials said.

The auto industry is particularly sensitive to rupee depreciation because of its high dependence on imported raw-material and parts that become expensive with the fall in rupee's value against major international currencies.

However, the same industry is also well-positioned, compared to other industries, to easily pass on the impact due to high demand of automobiles in the country.