KARACHI: Atlas Honda Ltd (AHL) has increased bike prices by Rs1,000-1,600 despite low cost of import on account of improving rupee strength against the dollar in the last seven months.

A dealer said the new pri­ces would be effective from April 1 and like past practice, the company did not give any reason for price hike.

For example, Honda CD-70 would be available at Rs82,900, up by Rs1,000, while CG-125 would be sold at Rs136,500, up by Rs1,600. AHL had sold 836,046 units in 8MFY21 versus 700,194 units in the same period last fiscal year.

The cost of import has declined from the last week of August 2020 when one dollar was equal to Rs168.40 as compared to current rate of Rs154-155, but the bike and other vehicle assemblers have continued to jack up prices.

Mohammad Sabir Sheikh, a bike dealer at Akbar Road, said the price of 70cc had risen by Rs8,000-9,000 followed by Rs25,000-50,000 in 125-150cc from August 2020 till to-date.

The country’s import bill for completely and semi-knocked down (CKD/SKD) kits dropped by 3.51pc to $44.5m during 8MFY21 from $46m in the same period last year.

Shankar Talreja, analyst at Topline Securities, said car prices rose by two to 7pc from August 2020 till to-date. For example, Suzuki WagonR now costs Rs1.640m versus Rs1.605m while Cultus is now available at Rs1.780m as compared to Rs1.745m.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2021*