Mahindra aims to take on Tata Ace with new Maxximo

Mahindra & Mahindra(M&M) plans to take on the country's highest selling mini-truck, the Tata Ace, with the new Mahindra Maxximo, the first in its segment to be powered by a 2-cylinder CRDe engine.

While the new Maxximo has a higher payload of 850 kilogram(kg) compared to the 730 kg of Tata Ace, it's BS III variant is priced at par with the Ace which enjoys an over 80 per cent market share in the segment. The Maxximo is priced at Rs 2.84 lakh ex-showroom in Ahmedabad. "The Rs 2.84 lakh Ace is a BS II variant,” informed Arun Malhotra, senior vice president, sales and customer care, automotive sector of M&M.

Mahindra plans to produce 2000-2500 Maxximos per month at its Chakan plant initially, and then ramp up the capacity to 4000 per month in around a year's time.

The Tata Ace now sells around 9000 units per month. "We want to consolidate in the Indian market first before we can start exporting the product to neighbouring countries.", Malhotra said.

The Ace, one of the highest-selling vehicles of Tata Motors, was launched in 2005 to compete with three-wheeled goods-carrying vehicles from Bajaj Auto Ltd., Piaggio and Mahindra. Vehicle manufacturers sold 171,692 light trucks in India during April-December 2009, a 36 per cent rise from the year-earlier period. In comparison, medium and heavy truck sales for the same period grew only 9.3 per cent to 127,801 vehicles.

While Mahindra enjoys an 80 per cent market share in the 1.2 tonne truck segment,it is a new entrant in the mini truck segment, Malhotra said.

"The minitruck segment has had a compounded annual growth rate of 21 per cent for the past three years and is expected to grow at the same rate for the next few years.", he added.

The company plans to introduce the model in North, West and some parts of Eastern India in the first phase. "In the second phase, we will have presence in the rest of Eastern India and South India with a production capacity of 3000 vehicles per month," Malhotra said. It will be available across Mahindra's network of 191 dealers and 600 outlets.