The home side automaker did progress decently as they had a market share of 8.1 percent, 9.9 percent and 9.9 percent for 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. Currently in the year 2014, the market share is 8.8 percent. The 2012 YoY growth was 33 percent on the greener side but the 2013 YoY went sour by 8 percent. Mahindra launched five cars in the span of these three and half years; where one excelled, the another one proved to be a disaster.
Verito – The car never did well in the market since its launch. Neither did Renault’s brand nor did Mahindra’s build quality help this vehicle to capture the market. Mahindra took over the complete design and renamed the vehicle as Verito with few changes on board. The car was also backed up by travel agencies but failed to deal in numbers. The volumes of this sedan has always been on the lower side and 2014 has made things even worse. Just 1320 units were sold in the past 6 months; drop of sales in June was recorded at 88 percent (MoM) when compared to January 2011.
Verito Vibe – Only God would know how this vehicle popped up in Mahindra’s strategy meeting and how could they let this vehicle come on the road? Anyhow the decision to bring out the Verito Vibe surely went sour. It’s neither a great car nor does it come from a great family; no wonder this car went to dust the moment it came out of the production line. 2557 units have been sold since its inception in last year September.
Bolero – One of the solidly built primitive utility vehicles in the country and the only one from its segment to be in the top 10; the Bolero has been the indisputable king for Mahindra. For the past few years, the Bolero has been the top seller and no vehicle has even come close to its figures. This vehicle has healthy past and present curves and it enjoys its position in the market. With an average of 9100 units per month for this year, the Bolero is withholding its strong position. In the past three and half years, 3.75 lakh units have been sold with 54,792 units being this year’s contribution. A true wanderer, the Bolero has nothing to worry about.
Quanto – The vehicle was probably not meant to compete with star studded Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport. The Quanto was launched a couple of months after the Duster and sales came only for a few months since introduction. However it was later knocked down completely once the EcoSport entered the arena. The sales instantly fell by 30 percent (MoM); since then the downtrend continued with just a couple of peaks in the last one and half years. In January 2013, the car dealt with 3000 units sold, while this June, the company could push just 177 units. The Quanto is looking to make a comeback with AMT and that could put this car under the customer’s radar; but one should also keep in mind that the Quanto looks out of shape when compared to the Duster and EcoSport. So can the AMT alone change the fate of this compact SUV? We just have to wait and see but our answer is no.
Thar – The only Indian pure off-road breed that is existing in the market; the Thar was launched to pump in some adrenaline in the country. The Thar though enjoys monopoly and is selling at 600 units per month which we feel is decent enough for this segment. The sales can be totalled to 10,359 units, which is by far better than many failed models. This off-roader is certainly the one to look at for reigning rough terrains.
Rexton – Launched along with Thar, the adopted premium SUV has its presence in the segment but its contribution to the company has been very little. Obviously this beauty cannot be blamed as the SUV segment sales are low in our country. 4002 units of this ‘hatta-katta’ vehicle are running on the streets. All the SUVs in the market are competing against the Japanese Toyota Fortuner.
Xylo – The elder sibling of Quanto has lost potential market, especially this year with sales falling from quad-digit to triple. In early 2011, the demand was around 2600 units per month and currently the vehicle has not traded even 1000 units a month in the past 7 months. A very disappointing sales pattern as the vehicle chart slides down along the line.
Scorpio – The second best seller for Mahindra has developed a lot in the past few years. Incorporation of features always kept this beast up to date and yes, it is quite attractive as well as economical. With 14 km/l badge on the vehicle, it did lure many customers as this was a combo of power and fuel economy. The Scorpio has been pretty consistent with its sales pattern and has been selling 4000 units a month, pretty good for the SUV.
XUV500 – The only vehicle from Mahindra which created immense hype, that the dealers had to stop taking bookings at least a couple of times. The XUV500 was received like a king by the Indian customers. Rightly priced with plenty of luxury elements in the cabin, the SUV has been doing well for now. The hype created helped Mahindra to cross the 4000 unit mark three times and even now the company is shelling out 3000 units a month on an average. The sales will increase probably by 5 percent, once the automatic version comes into market next year. Nicely designed, this complete package has touched 1 lakh units since its introduction in 2011.
