Toyota,Honda and Mitsu price hikes as ringgit continue to drop

News article from Paultan.

Photo copyright owned by www.torque.com.sg

A bleak report by weekly publication The Edge suggests that three more carmakers – namely Honda, Toyota and Mitsubishi – are expected to raise their prices in light of the falling ringgit. This follows Hyundai’s move to hike prices of its Elantra, Veloster and Santa Fe models earlier this month.

The ringgit breached the 4.40 mark against the US dollar recently, the lowest it has been since 1998. Making things worse, the ringgit isn’t faring any better against the euro either, falling about 15% since the start of the year, to 4.88 at the moment.

The report claims that the price increase will come any time now, with some apparently looking to do so as early as October 1. If true – and we don’t know if it is just yet, or to what extent it will be – this will surely have a negative effect on car sales, which is already in a slump as it is.

Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president Datuk Aishah Ahmad told the weekly, “increasing prices is not going to help boost sales. On the contrary, it will worsen the situation as consumers are already tightening their belts due to inflationary pressures.

“However, there is a limit as to how much of the costs car companies can afford to absorb due to forex losses. It (increasing prices) is not an easy decision to make, and each company will have to evaluate its own situation,” she added.

What do you think of this, folks? Do bear in mind that it’s just a report for now, not a sure thing. We atpaultan.org will keep you updated in due course.

Article Owned by Paultan

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