Volkswagen, Mercedes and Jeep hike Japan prices as costs …

Imported cars are starting to carry bigger price tags for Japanese drivers, as foreign automakers like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz Group pass on higher material and transport costs. The increases by manufacturers including the two German companies as well as France’s Renault do not fully reflect developments such as the war in Ukraine and the yen’s recent nosedive. These are raising the upward pressure on costs, pushing even hesitant Japanese automakers to rethink their price strategy. Volkswagen this month raised prices by an average of 2% on almost a dozen models including its signature Golf, with the largest increase amounting to 138,000 yen ($1,100). This followed a round of slightly smaller hikes last October. Mercedes lifted prices about 1% on two C-Class models in February. Prices on Jeep models from Stellantis climbed as much as 13% in March, with the Wrangler sport utility vehicle seeing the largest rise at nearly $7,000. The automaker lifted prices for other models in January.