M&M to enter US market in first quarter of 2010

Auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has said today it will begin US operations in the first quarter of 2010 with two new variants of SUV Scorpio, besides two vehicles in the Indian market over the next six months.

“In the US market, we are going to start off with the Scorpio single cabin and double cabin in the first quarter of next year. In future, we will have newer models coming in,” M&M President (Automotive Sector) Pawan Goenka told PTI on the sidelines of the ACMA annual conference here in the capital.

He said the company will initially sell its models in the US market as completely built units shipped out from India.

“If we get good volumes, then we will look at local assembly (in US). It depends on the market and how our products are accepted there,” Goenka said.

The company had earlier announced that it had made investments worth Rs 300 crore on product development for its US operations.

M&M is also planning to launch two new vehicles in the Indian market within the next six months.

“The first one will be a sub-one tonne four-wheeler in the last quarter of this calendar year and the second one will be a medium and heavy truck developed in a joint venture with ‘Navistar’, which will be launched in the first quarter of 2010,” he said.

Asked about reports on the recall of Xylo and Scorpio he said, “It is absolutely wrong. There is no recall of Xylo or Scorpio from any of the market.”