June 18, 2014: Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra which has recently seen a fall in its volumes is developing a new utility vehicle for India and other global markets according to a report that has appeared in Financial Express (FE). M&M which saw its volumes dip by 21 per cent in May this year though the overall passenger vehicle market grew by about 3 per cent is developing this new utility vehicle in Mahindra North American Technical Centre based in Detroit, US.
Pawan Goenka, Executive Director and President (automotive) was quoted as saying to FE “We have put Europe R&D plans on hold, but in the US we are going ahead. We have hired 35 plus engineers and we are developing a whole new product there that will be launched in 2017. Its in the UV segment and will be sold in the global markets starting from India”. Immediately, M&M would be introducing a major face lifted version of its popular SUV ‘Scorpio’ which still holds 42 per cent market share in the UV segment. The UV segment in India is valued at 5.25 lakh unit in terms of annual sales volumes.
M&M would be launching all its new products including a compact SUV after a year’s gap from 2015-16. Recently its new product launches like mini SUV Mahindra Quanto and hatchback Mahindra Verito Vibe has really not set the market on fire and still the company is banking on its models like Scorpio, Xylo and Bolero. Even the performance of Rexton Ssangyong has not been upto the mark forcing the company to look for other options.
