M&M denies pursuing stake in Scooters India

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today said it has decided not to acquire the over 95% stake in the beleaguered PSU firm Scooters India at present, as it has "various things" to do.

"We have done our analysis and we have decided not to go after it. We are not pursuing it anymore," M&M president (Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors) Pawan Goenka told reporters here.

He, however, said not participating in the race to acquire Scooters India (SIL) does not mean that M&M would never look at the option in the future.

"As of now we are not interested and it does not mean that we will never look at it. We have various things to do at Mahindra & Mahindra," Goenka said without elaborating further.

Earlier in May, M&M had said it would examine the opportunity of acquiring a stake in the state-run auto firm and would announce a final decision on the acquisition of SIL within the following 45 days.

"We will examine the opportunity and decide whether to approach the government. We will look to give any update in about 45 days," an M&M spokesperson had said.

The government, which holds 95.38% in SIL, had announced its decision to divest the entire stake in the firm with an aim to revive the company that has been incurring losses since 2002-03.

Talking about M&M's sedan Verito, Goenka said the company is working on launching two new versions of the car by the end of this fiscal.

"While one will be a refreshed version, the other one will be a smaller car that will be sub-four metre in length," he added.

Besides, M&M will introduce a new sports utility vehicle by December this year, Goenka said without sharing details.

When asked about its South Korean auto firm SsangYong Motor Company (SYMC), Goenka said: "The sales have been good this year. So far SYMC has sold 55,000 units in January-June period and its target is to sell 1.25 lakh units for the entire 2011".

M&M has earlier announced to invest $250 million in SYMC for product development and other purposes, he added.

"We are looking to introduce SYMC's products in India by the end of this fiscal. We will introduce Rexton and Korando-C here that will be launched as completely knocked down units from our Chankan facility in Maharashtra," he said.

Besides, exports of the Korean firm is growing. It is now looking to start independent exports of its vehicles to China by the end of 2011.