M&M's LCV portfolio clocks robust growth

Domestic automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra's light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment is growing robustly.

The firm today said that its foray into the mini-truck segment had resulted in the garnering of about 25 per cent of the market share across the northern and western regions. The firm's mini-truck — Maxximo — had been launched in these markets only about a month back.

At the same time, its other LCV offering — the compact truck Gio — has also gained about 15 per cent market share over the last few months, company officials said.

“The response in the northern and western markets has been very good. As of now, we have a capacity about 2,500 mini-trucks per month at our Chakan plant. We will observe the market over the next few months and ramp up capacity if required,” Mahindra & Mahindra General Manager – Marketing (Automotive Sector) Mahesh Kulkarni said.

He was speaking on the sideline of the Maxximo's launch in the eastern region. “We will launch the mini-truck in the South within this quarter,” he added.

Kulkarni said that the company had spent about Rs 600 crore to develop the new mini-truck which, with a first of its kind 2-cylinder CRDe (Common Rail Diesel) engine, is priced at Rs 2.9 lakh (BS3, ex-showroom Kolkata).

The size of the mini-truck market in India is in the range of 1,30,000 vehicles annually, and has been growing at a rate above 25 per cent year-on-year.

The auto major is also feeling the pinch of rising input costs and may mull over a series of price revisions, across segments, later in the year.

“We will need to increase prices at some point. We will look at the situation closely and take a call. We cannot hike prices at one go, so it will have to be done gradually,” Kulkarni said. He, however, indicated that the upward revision is likely to be in the range of 2-3 per cent across segments.