LG Electronics LG India to hike prices by 5% to 10%

Our Corporate Bureau
22 March 2005

Mumbai: LG Electronics India (P) Ltd (LGEIL) will hike the prices of its consumer electronics by five to 10 per cent, effective April 1,2005.

According to Kwang-Ro Kim, president, South West Asia, LG Electronics Inc and managing director of the Indian company, the price hike had become unavoidable due to increases in raw material prices, mainly resin and plastics, steel, copper and aluminium. "The price hike of raw materials, which rose from five to 20 per cent after the union budget, is threatening to impact our bottomlines and we are forced to pass it on to the customer," Kim said.

The product range to be affected includes colour TVs (by 5 per cent) and refrigerators and washing machines (by 10 per cent), he added, though the increase in prices of IT products like colour monitors was being worked out by the company.

According to Salil Kapoor, marketing head, taxes and other provisions in the budget had caused a price rise in raw material prices — particularly resin and plastics, which had risen by 25 per cent, steel by 23 per cent and copper and aluminium by 24 per cent

Moreover, an increase in global oil prices would also have impact the price of finished products.