NEW DELHI - Toyota’s Innova and Corolla Altis models will be costlier by up to Rs.25,000 next month, the Japanese auto major said Wednesday.

A company statement said the price hike decision was taken due to increase in cost, thanks to the rising dollar exchange rate.

‘Due to circumstances beyond our control, such as the increase in the rupee/dollar exchange rate by 20 percent in the last three months, we have been forced to increase the price of our vehicles,’ said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors (marketing division).

The Toyota Innvoa will be costlier by Rs.10,000-25,000 starting Jan 1, while Corolla will cost Rs.16,000-25,000 more.

‘Despite the recent reduction in Cenvat (central value-added tax), where Toyota had reduced prices, passing on the excise duty benefits of 4 percent reduction entirely to customers, the current increase is inevitable,’ he added.

Toyota reduced the prices of all its models Dec 8 following the tax cut announced by the government Dec 7 as part of a fiscal stimulus package.

Following the price cut, the high-end version of Innova became cheaper by Rs.32,780, while the price of the Corolla Altis was slashed by Rs.40,750.