M&M tries out options to regain grip in utility vehicle space

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is back to the drawing board working on a slew of measures, including new launches and better product positioning, in its bid to regain lost ground in the utility vehicle segment.
For the Mumbai-based auto major, the sales push includes launch of an all-new multi purpose vehicle (MPV) this fiscal, besides upgrading various models.
"We have lost the market share primarily because the universe of UV is expanding very rapidly and also because there are many more competitors than there were 3-4 years ago in the UV segment," M&M Managing Director Pawan Goenka said in a conference call.

The company is making conscious efforts to get some of that market share back.
"We have said it very clearly that to get to that old kind of market share is out of question and if we can get to low-30s consistently, that will be a good market share to target and we are working on that through new launches that we have planned," Goenka said.
The company has already lost the top slot in the segment to Maruti Suzuki India. M&M's market share stood at 26.07 per cent in April-July this fiscal, down from 29.83 per cent in the year-ago period.

Maruti Suzuki India has zoomed ahead with 29.93 per cent, powered by compact SUV Vitara Brezza.

The automaker is also making certain changes in its current portfolio in terms of product as well as positioning.
The chassis-based products like Scorpio, Bolero range and TUV are doing "pretty well", Goenka said.
"These three products together are giving us about 14,000 to 15,000 volume, which is a strong part of our portfolio," he added. "It is in the crossover segment where we need to get a little bit more volume and that is what we are going to do right now."
Elaborating on new product launches, Goenka said the company is in the process of rolling out a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) that would compete with the likes of Toyota Innova and Tata Motors Hexa.

"This product has been developed entirely at our Detroit technical centre and right now, we are in the phase of manufacturing set up and try outs," Goenka said.
The company also has plans to launch a non-hybrid version of its popular SUV Scorpio and S201 that is based on SsangYong Tivoli platform.
"That launch (S201) will be in the next fiscal and in between, we have several minor and major refreshes," Goenka said.
Asked if the company is looking to introduce G4 Rexton in India, Goenka said: "We are still looking at whether it is affordable for India because it is a very expensive product and if the price is not at a level where there is some kind of volume of getting 300-400 a month, it does not make economic sense to bring that here."

The automaker is going to decide on that in the next two months, he added.