Mahindra & Mahindra launches Bolero Pick-up flat bed in Pune

Pick up vehicle category has seen significant sales growth in the year

To maintain its foothold in this pick-up vehicle segment, automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) today launched its Bolero Pick-up Flat Bed in Pune. Despite slowdown in automotive sector, the pick-up vehicle category has seen significant sales growth during the year.

The market has seen annual growth of 17 per cent. Automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has gained 4 per cent market share in the pick-up segment in India in the first half of FY14. Available in two variants, it  Bolero is priced at  Rs 5.45 lac (BS3 version) ex-showroom Pune.

"By the end of FY13, we had 54 per cent market share and now it is 58 per cent . We have sold around 55,000 units during the last six months. In the next six months too, we expect the growth momentum to continue in the segment," said Vivek Nayer, chief marketing officer, automotive division, Mahindra & Mahindra said during the launch of ithis pick-up vehicle in Pune.

The vehicle is manufactured at company's three plants located in Kandivali, Nashik and Zaheerabad (Andhra Paradesh). The collective annual manufacturing capacity of  these plants is 1.30 lakh units. The company is also planning to launch its CNG version in due course of time. However, Nayer has not disclosed any specific timeline for this. The company expects the semi-urban demand to drive the growth in this segment. It sold around 1.03,lakh units in the pick-up segment in FY13 as against the earlier year's 73,000 units. So far, this fiscal it has sold 55,000 units. The total market size of these vehicles is of 1.90 lakh units. Mahindra has registered 19 per cent growth.   

Explaining the reason for growth, Nayer said, "This category has not been affected by slowdown because it is mainly dependent on rural and agro economy. Supported by a buoyant monsoon this year,  the farm sector demand for tractor and pick-up segment has been quite encouraging even as the service sector demand for bulk load vehicles was low. Normally, during festive season, we can expect 20 to 25 per cent growth in sales."  

Speaking on the launch, Mahesh Kulkarni, senior general manager, brand Pick-Up, marketing, M&M said “The Indian pick-up market is growing at a healthy rate and is also witnessing an evolution in customers’ demands and behaviors. As leaders in the pick-up segment for over a decade, we have made it a business imperative to understand these changing needs and evolve our products accordingly.