New Delhi: Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) remains bullish on its growth trajectory for the current fiscal year. The maker of the Scorpio and Thar has maintained its forecast of “mid to high teens” growth in SUV sales for the rest of FY25, significantly outpacing the industry as a whole, which is projected to grow at a more modest 3-5%.
Amid concerns of a high dealer network stock for most carmakers, Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director- Farm Equipment and Automotive Sectors at M&M said, “We had a very good festival off-take, and our inventories now are way below 30 days. We had a few extra days of stock and that is all gone.”
The net revenue per SUV during July-September quarter has gone up by about 9%- 10%, when compared to the corresponding quarter of last year. SUV volumes during the quarter were up 18%, and the SUV revenue market share was seen at 21.9%, up 190 basis points.
Currently, the automaker’s monthly production capacity for SUVs stands at 54,000 units, up 10% from FY24. Mahindra will assess the need to expand ICE capacity in the upcoming months, given the response to its exports to South Africa and new markets. “At this point of time, there’s no immediate plan to add new capacity for ICEs, except for the Thar Roxx where we look at increasing it by a couple of thousands or more.”
Thar Roxx is Mahindra’s 5-door SUV launched in August this year. Based on specific models, it is currently available on a waiting period of about 9-15 months. The company says it witnessed a “slowdown” in the sales of the 3-door Thar after the launch of the Roxx, however “that changed very quickly, and we have now sold out everything that we had for the 3-door.”
Mahindra is in full swing and this growth highlights its continued leadership in key segments, including SUVs, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), and tractors.
In the less than 3.5-ton LCV category, its market share stands at 52.3%. With the second half of the year expected to clock double-digit growth, the company has also revised its forecast for tractor sales growth for the current fiscal to 6%-6.5% from 5% projected earlier.
Driven by auto and tractor businesses, the consolidated net profit for the Mahindra Group during the July- September quarter jumped 35% to INR 3,171 crore. This stood at INR 2,348 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations rose 10% to INR 37,924 crore from INR 34,436 crore.
EV Strategy
Last quarter, ETAuto reported how despite a slowdown in demand for EVs globally, M&M seemed confident of India’s electrification story.
Now, Mahindra is “even more confident”. The company is gearing up to launch two new born-electric SUVs built on its INGLO platform – XEV 9e and BE 6e – on November 26 in Chennai.
Reiterating the confidence in its upcoming products, Jejurikar said, “Right products will create a huge opportunity.” He stated that India stands at just about 2% electric passenger vehicle penetration and has a long way to go. As the quality of product offerings in the market improves with new launches, it will start doing well.
Apart from the existing ICE capacity, the automaker has dedicated a monthly capacity of 10,000 units for its new electric models. “For BEVs, we have created a separate body shop assembly line, all of that within the Chakan plant. By March there will be a capacity of about 10,000 units that we will get ready.”
Talking about adopting hybrid technology, Jejurikar reiterated that the company looks at entering this space if needed, but it is not working on an active program. “We remain committed to our EV strategy, and we believe that’s the destination technology for the country and for us. That doesn’t mean we will never do hybrids, but that is not the priority.”
Currently, Mahindra sells just one EV model in its portfolio – XUV400 launched in January last year. During Q2, it sold just 1844 units of the SUV, averaging about 600 units per month.
“We are not doing great on the XUV400 volumes. There is a segment of people who value this product for its pace and other areas of strength, but that is not our priority as of now. We are not putting marketing money behind it, and we will let it go at the pace at which it is moving. Our priority is to do more of the electric-origin SUVs,” Jejurikar said.
Mahindra-VW JV
Earlier this year, Volkswagen (VW) and Mahindra signed an agreement for the latter to use components from VW’s MEB platform. The automakers are expected to announce a partnership that expands this deal, with both the companies now working more closely on producing electric SUVs for India and beyond.
ETAuto recently reported why VW is betting on a collaboration route, in India too.
Responding to the query on the same, Jejurikar said, “We continue to look at various opportunities across our businesses, and only when we feel that the opportunity really makes sense for us will we have any further conversations on it.”
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