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Manu P. Toms

Mumbai, Sept. 27 Mahindra Renault’s Logan is entering the South African market as the first consignment of 200 cars to the country was shipped on Saturday.

“We are exploring all right-hand drive markets. We will soon export Logan to a few more countries,” said Mr Nalin Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra Renault.

South Africa is the third export market for Logan. The car is being exported to Mauritius and Nepal. The company started selling the completely built units in Nepal in August.

Mr Mehta said that sales of the limited edition Logan Edge have exceeded the internal target of 500 units well before the third week of October when the three-month limited edition period ends. Logan Edge, priced between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 7.15 lakh and available in both petrol and diesel versions, was launched on July 23.

The company is preparing to launch two upgraded variants of Logan within a fortnight. Logan clocked 1,464 sales units last month and is holding a market share of 12 per cent in the midsize entry segment. Ever since its commercial launch in May 2007, more than 33,000 units of the car have been sold so far.

From April to August, the sales volume touched 7,465, down by 27 per cent when compared to the year-ago period. “The midsize segment of cars is particularly hit by the slowdown in the industry and the competition is very intense among the many different models,” said a top official of the company.

The company is planning to bring out a CNG variant of Logan which comes with a factory-fitted gas kit. Currently, some Logan cars are run on CNG, especially in the taxi segment, following the after-market retrofitment. The company will soon start to offer CNG (after-market fitment) to personal users in Delhi.

The company is learned to have adopted a strategy to focus more on fuel-efficient variants on the basis of market feedback. Of the 33,000-plus units of Logan which have been sold so far, about 70 per cent are diesel-run cars.

More Stories on : Announcements | Exports & Imports | Cars | Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

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