The Mahindra XUV500 has been an instant hit in the Indian market so much so that the company faced severe trouble to keep up to the demand. Practices like lottery draw and things like that had to be done to allot vehicles to the customers. With production capacity expansion taking place, Mahindra is focusing on taking the vehicle beyond India to countries like Italy, Chile and Australia.
Ruzbeh Irani, M&M Chief Executive, International Operations (Automotive & Farm Equipment sectors) told that the company is all set to go ahead with the international launches of XUV500. Italy and Australia are planned shortly. These are vehicles adapted to the needs of these markets. He also mentioned that the necessary adaptations meet the norms in these markets such as emission and left hand drive in case of Italy have been completed.
However, he refused to mention any specific timeline of the launch of the XUV500 in these countries. Earlier, Mr. Pawan Goenka, Mahindra President (Automotive and Farm Equipment sectors) had told the media that the company was going slow on international launch of the vehicle to meet domestic demand. Currently the Mahindra XUV500 is only exported to South Africa.
