Utility Vehicle (UV) maker, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) Limited incited a gruesome price war by launching its Quanto compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) on September 20, 2012. The latest offering is M&M's smallest product in the domestic market and the company has tagged the Quanto with an aggressive price bracket between Rs. 5.82 lacs and Rs. 7.36 lacs. The company revealed it is set towards exploring its global reach by exporting newly launched Quanto to the Europe, Africa and the South American country Chile.
In the first week of September 2012, Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive and Farm Equipment Division, M&M, said, “Mahindra is aiming to fill a need gap in the Indian automotive market for a versatile and compact SUV with the Quanto. We expect the Quanto to offer an exciting upgrade at a premium to customers who are otherwise looking for premium diesel hatchbacks or entry level diesel sedans.”
Reportedly, M&M is looking towards selling 1,500-2,000 units of the Quanto every month initially. The company has pitched the Quanto directly against the likes of Multi Utility Vehicle (MUV) Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and compact SUV Renault Duster which have been scorching the Indian UV scene for months. While the 'Life Utility Vehicle' Maruti Suzuki Ertiga starts from Rs. 5.89 lacs and Renault Duster's base model is available from Rs. 7.19 lacs (ex-showroom, Delhi).
The newly launched Quanto falls within the sub-4 metre length and sub-1,500 cc engine segment, thereby benefiting from the lower excise duty of 12 per cent. Usually SUVs in the country are levied a 27 per cent excise charges due to their length exceeding four metres and bigger engine displacement.
Recently, the vehicle sales of compact SUVs have outpaced the sales of every other segment in the domestic passenger car market. The bulk of sales involved the French auto maker Renault's Duster, which recorded bookings of more than 15,000 units in just two months. Interestingly, Ford Motor Company, the US automotive manufacturer, is also gearing up towards the launch of its compact SUV EcoSport somewhere around the first few months of 2013. According to industry experts, Mahindra Quanto will set a new benchmark in the compact SUV segment and its aggressive pricing combined with its interesting attributes could snatch the sales from premium hatchbacks and entry-level sedans.
Evidently, the Indian passenger car market witnessed a shift in buying pattern as the consumers are following the American trend of investing in powerful SUVs, instead of compact hatchbacks. Indian buyers seem to have been smitten by the mean raw power, greater seating capacity and diesel fuel options available in the SUVs. Thus, the segment overshadowed the previous notions that Indian consumers focus only on small hatchbacks.
