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Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra Limited expects to see the automotive sector performing better in the second half, with the festival season kicking in and a number of new vehicles set for launch by Mahindra as well as other companies.
The diversified M&M is planning to launch at least five more models during the current fiscal as part of its earlier announcement to roll out nine new models. This includes a compact sports utility vehicle, S101, before the current financial year.
Fluctuating sentiment Ashish Malik, Vice-President (Personal Brands & Market Research) of Mahindra & Mahindra, Automotive Sector, said the company expects the festival season to play a big role, helping garner volumes. The monsoon has been not been satisfactory, which has impacted market sentiment and sales in rural areas. Launching the new sports utility vehicle – TUV 300 in Hyderabad on Monday, he said the “True Blue SUV” produced from the company’s Chakan manufacturing unit has already begun to create a buzz in the market.
Market slowdown “We have capacity to roll out about 5,000 units of the new SUV and this is expected to add to the overall sales volumes. Though there is no immediate target for volumes, we are looking at 4,500 to 5,000 units per month,” he said.
The market for passenger vehicles is passing through tough times. While cars have registered about 10 per cent growth in volumes, sports utility vehicles have witnessed de-growth of about 1 per cent.
However, M&M is the only SUV maker in the country to have registered positive growth in sales volumes across Scorpio, Bolero, XUV and Xylo, he said. “Thus far, we have introduced four new models, which include the all new XUV 500, new Thar, the all new Jeeto Commercial Vehicle, and now the TUV 300.
“We expect to follow this up with five more launches as announced by the management,” he said. The country’s SUV market logs volumes of 47,000 to 50,000 units per month. The launch of TUV 300 and other new offerings would enable M&M address a much larger market in segments where the company was hitherto not present, he added. The TUV 300, launched below the Scorpio, operates in a segment which has nine players offering compact SUVs.
The 7-seater in five-plus-two configuration is priced starting at ₹7.4 lakh, and goes up to ₹9.6 lakh ex-showroom.
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