M&M yet to get US nod to launch vehicles

India’s largest sport utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) plan of launching its vehicles in the US has suffered a delay of almost 12 months following clearance awaited from the US homologation department.

Company officials had confirmed earlier that its range of passenger vehicles, starting with pick-up trucks, will be launched in the US market in the early part of this calendar year. It already sells medium-to-high powered tractors in the US market.

Pawan Goenka, president (automotive sector), M&M, said, “We have built our products for the US market, which will be the pick-up range of the Scorpio. But we are awaiting pending homologation clearance.”

Homologation is the certification of a product or specification to indicate that it meets regulatory standards, including safety and environment (emission) norms, crash test, road worthiness of the vehicle. Such approvals are provided by government-funded or public service organisations or companies.

The US launch move is widely considered by analysts as M&M’s most ambitious step towards making the company a global company. It will also be for the first time that an Indian company will launch passenger vehicles in the world’s largest automobile market of the US.

The two- and four-door pick-up trucks are based on the company’s flagship Scorpio platform, which was developed more than six years ago. Some of the pick-ups had been tested at the Nashik manufacturing plant of the company.

Pick-up trucks are also classified as passenger vehicles in the US, which is also the world’s largest pick-up market. Thailand is the second largest pick-up market in the world. Some pick-ups are classified as lifestyle vehicles in overseas markets.

The company also aims to export sports utility vehicles (SUVs), including the Scorpio, to the North American market in the next few years.