Xylo micro-hybrid by year-end: M&M

Mahindra & Mahindra today said it will launch a micro-hybrid version of its latest multipurpose vehicle Xylo before the year-end, while it gears up to roll out two electric cars from the Reva stable by the end of 2011.

Micro-hybrid is a technology that helps a vehicle switch off the engine automatically while lying idle and restarts on pressing the accelerator, without having to switch on the engine again. This option is already available to its flagship SUV Scorpio and Bolero MaxiTruck.

"We plan to launch the Xylo micro-hybrid before the end of the year," M&M president--automotive and farm equipment Pawan Goenka told reporters here. He said already there are about 50,000 micro-hybrid vehicles from the M&M stable plying on the roads now.Asked about the roadmap for its newly acquired electric car maker Reva, he said the company is eyeing the commercial launch of Reva NXR and NXG by the fourth quarter of 2011. "A lot of work is going on at the moment and the launch of the new Reva NXR and NXG should be by Q4 of 2011," he said.

In May, M&M had acquired 55.2 percent stake in Reva Electric Car Co by a combination of equity purchase from its promoters and a fund infusion of over Rs 45-crore in the Bangalore based company. It was later renamed as Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle Co with Goenka as the chairman.

Commenting on June sales, he said utility vehicles were slightly down as the company faced production loss due to component supplies constraints. M&M's utility vehicles sales were at 12,748 units in June as against 13,087 units in the same month last year. Production was also down at 13,001 units from 15,120 units last June.

He said in the first quarter of the fiscal there was about 5 percent production loss due to supply constraints of castings, tyres and fuel injection system for diesel engines.