AC prices: Hot summer leads to 5–15% hikes

New Delhi: As the mercury starts rising, leading room airconditioner makers are increasing prices in the range of 5-15% to offset sustained increases in raw material costs and supply chain expenses.The hikes, being rolled out between February and April, come just ahead of the peak summer season when demand typically surges.Leading players, including Daikin, Voltas, Blue Star, LG, Haier, and Mitsubishi, have announced increases across models, passing on higher input costs for key raw materials such as copper, a weaker rupee, new energy-efficiency norms and an increase in freight costs.Industry executives said while adjustments are unavoidable, they expect strong sales momentum this year, aided by forecasts of a hotter summer and improved energy savings from new star-rated models.Daikin India is going to increase prices by up to 12% from April, and the hike in prices would depend on model to model, its CMD, Jawa, told PTI."New energy norms have come, which have made products more efficient. Also, prices of materials such as copper have gone up; the US dollar is at an all-time high (in comparison to the Indian rupee). Besides, there are a lot of uncertainties due to global turmoil, and freight costs have also gone up, making imports (of components) costlier. So there is no alternative," he said.Blue Star managing director B Thiagarajan said the company has already taken a price increase of 8-10% in the middle of February. However, old-priced inventory is still in the market, hence there is not much difference in the market.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/dfxWtSN