Blue Star flags 8% more AC price hikes this fiscal, warns of demand destruction risk
MD B. Thiagarajan says AC makers need another 8% in price increases — 5% by June and 3% before festive — on top of 5-8% already passed, taking total FY hikes to ~13%. Driver: copper, plastics and rupee pressure squeezing margins. Caveat: summer primary sales disappointed and further hikes risk killing demand.
What happened
Blue Star MD B. Thiagarajan says AC prices need 8% more hikes this fiscal — 5% by June and 3% before festive season — to protect margins amid copper, plastics
Key facts
- 8% more price hike
- 5-8% already passed
- 13% planned total
- 5% by end of May/June
- 3% before festive season
Why this matters
Demand-destruction risk plus FX/commodity squeeze opens a window to scout distressed regional AC brands or backward-integrate into compressor/component capacity to structurally insulate margins from the next cycle.