The Indian utility vehicle major, Mahindra & Mahindra announced that it will be launching the products currently under joint development with Ssangyong Motors in 2 to 3 year time. Mahindra & Mahindra had earlier bought a 70.03% stake in Ssangyong Motor Corporation last year, a deal valued at about Rs. 2100 crores. Currently Mahindra is in the process of developing 2 platforms along with the Korean firm, one of which will be for India and the other for the Korean market. The platforms being developed will serve as the base for the future Mahindra SUVs that the company is going to launch with the first product targeted to be launched in two and a half years. Currently the company has the Bolero, Scorpio, the Xylo and the recently launched XUV500 SUVs being sold in the Indian market.
“We want to synergise our operations with that of SsangYong in sourcing, manufacturing and distributing products to better profitability from resulting economies of scale,” Rajan Wadhera, chief executive (technology, product development and sourcing), Mahindra, said.
Mahindra says the purpose of jointly developing the platform with Ssangyong is to capitalize on the strong research and development capabilities of Ssangyong Motor Corporation when it comes to building SUVs. Currently the Ssangyong product line-up consists of 4 SUVs, 1 MPV and a luxury sedan. Mahindra showcased the Rexton SUV and XIV concept SUV at the 2012 Auto Expo. The Rexton is going to be launched in 6 months while another, the Korando will hit the market by 2013. For this, Mahindra is already setting up a separate assembly line in its Chakan plant to roll out 500 to 600 units of Rextons per month. The company is also considering selling the Ssangyong products abroad like in Brazil, Russia and China.
