M&M To Unveil New Models in 2011
Mahindra and Mahindra Limited- the country`s largest utility vehicle manufacturer will launch a brand new pick up truck with a capacity of 1.2 tonne in the 1st half of 2011. Speaking on the launch, Arun Malhotra, senior vice-president (sales and customer care) said, “We are working on a lot of models. There will be a pick up on a completely new platform.” He also said, “We plan to bring it in the 2nd of 2011. It will be positioned near the top-end of our commercial vehicle pickup range, with a payload capability of above 1 tonne.” With the Mahindra`s four wheeler pick up segment growing substantially by 38.9 percent Mahindra presently has five pickups in the commercial portfolio. The impressive range starts with the Gio, Maxximo, and 3 wheeled Alfa and Champion models. Mr. Malhotra said, “There will be a price increase in January. It will be across all the segments including heavy commercial vehicles”. He added, “The prices of rubber and steel components have shot up. This has forced us do a price revision.”
Mahindra and Mahindra president (automotive), Pawan Goenka asserted, “Yes, there is a pressure from the supply side and discussions are going on regarding price hike. I would not be able to share the details at this point of time.” Sales of utility vehicles at Mahindra increased to 56,639 units in the September quarter from 55,280 a year earlier, boosting the company’s sales by 15 percent to Rs5,311 crore. The Mahindra will also launch a utility vehicle Thar, which is priced at Rs5.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The utility vehicle segment has enhanced to 21 percent in the 1st two quarter of this fiscal. Besides, the industry has sold a total of 1, 54,500 vehicles during April - September. That is not all, the production at Mahindra&Mahindra and other auto makers has slowed down in recent months as component suppliers were unable to keep pace with the rising demand. However, in the month of September, Mahindra&Mahindra’s Goenka said that the supply constraints will bring down the production in the last quarter by 8% to 10%.
{Source: Autoblogs}