Since it first began selling its line of automotive vehicles in the country 18 years ago, Mahindra South Africa has achieved a new monthly sales record.
According to data supplied by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), Mahindra sold 1,010 vehicles in January 2022, a new all-time high. Despite severe supply shortages and other COVID-19 related interruptions, this represents a whopping 77 percent increase over the same month in 2021.
With 618 units sold in January, the locally produced Mahindra Pik Up line remained the company’s best-seller, continuing a trend of being one of South Africa’s three fastest-growing models in the ‘bakkie’.
The KUV100 NXT and Scorpio, two of its SUVs, also surpassed expectations. The former appealed to budget-conscious purchasers searching for a cost-effective and capable compact SUV, while the latter’s Adventure model was a hit with South African families.
“Our team at Mahindra SA and each of our 72 dealers put in a lot of effort to achieve this new sales milestone,” stated Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.
Mahindra originally entered the South African market in 2004 with the intention of making the country its second home after India.
It has constantly invested in its dealer network and customer service since then to ensure that its growth is matched by its ability to provide service and support.
Several big investments, including a Durban assembly factory, have driven this rise over last few years.
Mahindra has established a new, larger and more contemporary training facility for technical and sales workers as well as a specialised vehicle fitment centre in Gauteng, South Africa’s industrial region.
Simultaneously, Mahindra supported its dealer network with a major modernisation effort, which saw many dealers relocate to larger, more contemporary buildings and expand their floor area and employee complement.
Gupta remained optimistic about the Mahindra brand’s future growth.
“The new sales record bodes well for Mahindra in what is shaping up to be a very busy year. This has already begun, with special edition versions like the Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Dusk and the new Pik Up S6 Double Cab Automatic selling like hotcakes.”
Mahindra is likely to get a lift from the debut of its new XUV700 model in South Africa later this year.
“We’ve set a major goal for ourselves for the coming year, and we’ve set very high expectations for our customer care team and our dealers. We will continue to ensure that our customer service and dealer capacity increase in lockstep with our sales, as we have in the past, and we are confident that this will earn us many more fans “Gupta came to a conclusion.
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