Indian Auto major Mahindra along with its Korean subsidiary Ssangyong have chalked out a development program to produce three engine platforms which will start powering cars in the next 3 years. These engines are being made specially keeping in mind markets like India and South Korea apart from other markets around the world. This initiative comes as a result of a joint product development program among the two companies. This program is not limited to just product development but also extends to a joint global sourcing and utilizing each others global network platform for sales of their products.
The engine specifications are not yet disclosed and no further details are available as to which segments are going to receive the new engines. The Ssangyong Rexton was launched in the Indian market a few days ago as a CKD unit powered by a 2.7-litre diesel engine. But the next generation Rexton is going to manufactured at the Mahindra’s Chakan plant and will feature some more localization. We speculate, the Rexton may sport one of these new engines which are under development.
Mahindra will be investing close to Rs. 4,000 crore and Ssangyong around Rs. 1,500 crore within the next three years. Ssangyong is currently sharing the sales network of Mahindra for the coming one year. But top Ssangyong officials believe that their brand must have a different identity altogether and may have separate showrooms next year. This strategy sounds confusing and Mahindra should have addressed the retail network prior to launch of the first Ssangyong vehicle in the country.
