Mahindra has started making plans for the first car to be developed with inputs from the recently acquired Pininfarnia who designed the XUV Aero concept showcased at the 2016 Auto Expo.
Mahindra has confirmed the news that it has started planning for the first Pininfarnia designed car for the Indian market to curb the competition in the SUV segment from different competitors with sleek designs. The coming months will see the decision on the type of car and the release date, stated the company.
Pininfarnia was bought by Mahindra with the initial aim to give its boxy cars a new premium design which will make it capable of competing against new competitors from different automakers such as Ford, Hyundai, etc. The automaker’s market share in the SUV segment came down to 37 percent from 48 percent two years ago.
Mahindra recently showcased the XUV Aero crossover concept which is a coupe SUV at the 2016 Auto Expo which was developed with inputs from Pininfarnia and the automaker will start the production according to the response it gets while it is expected to be priced near Rs. 20 lakhs.
Pininfarnia is the latest acquisition of the Mahindra Group that recently acquired major shares of the South Korean automaker SsangYong in 2010. It also bought majority shares of the French scooter-maker Peugeot last year. The Indian manufacturer uses these acquisitions to develop its product range with inputs from these companies.