Canadian Satellite Radio (CSR), which operates XM Canada, will raise its monthly price in order to offset its financial losses, the company announced July 13.

New subscribers to the satellite radio service will pay 14.99 Canadian dollars ($13.24) per month beginning Sept. 1, while current subscribers and people who signup before the end of August will pay 12.99 Canadian dollars ($11.47) per month through August 2007.

“This new price increase is warranted by the benefits to our subscribers of our unique and exclusive programming, leading edge equipment … and extensive signal coverage,” Steve Tapp, president and COO, said in a statement.

CSR reported 80,000 subscribers to XM Canada at the end of its 2006 third quarter, which ended May 31, surpassing its expectations of 75,000 by the end of August. The company added that only 64,000 of those are paying for the service.

In its 2006 third quarter, XM Canada generated revenue of 2.34 million Canadian dollars ($2.1 million) from subscriptions, activations, advertising and radio sales. The company lost 20.4 million Canadian dollars ($18.2 million). The service was launched at the end of 2005, so there are no corresponding figures from the third quarter of 2005.

Separately, XM Canada announced it had added Suzuki Canada to its vehicle partnership lineup. The automobile manufacturer will begin factory installations of XM radios starting with the 2007 model year and car buyers will receive free activation and three free months of service.

XM Canada also has installation deals with Toyota Canada Inc, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Subaru.

Rival Sirius Canada also inked an exclusive factory installation deal, adding Ford of Canada to its lineup starting with 2007 model cars, the company announced July 13. Sirius radios will be standard equipment in nearly all Ford vehicles sold in Canada by 2008, the companies said.