Even though Mahindra Scorpio was launched almost a decade ago, it is still raking up huge numbers for Mahindra & Mahindra. According to the recent sales figures released by the company, the demand for Scorpio has not only overtaken its sibling XUV500 but it has also outpaced best-seller Renault Duster in the last three months, which is quite astonishing. As told by Mahindra & Mahindra, it sold 4345 units in September, 3356 in August and 3256 in July 2013 of Scorpio model whereas the figures for Duster in these three months stood at 3973, 2967 and 3089, respectively. Also to mention, Mahindra Scorpio achieved another milestone with the sales of the vehicle reaching a figure of 4 lakh.
Since its inception in the Indian car market in 2002, this Mahindra & Mahindra Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) has gone through a lot of updates in the exteriors and interiors. Also, the car recently undergone a lot of mechanical changes with the most notable being the 2.2-litre mHawk engine that is mated to six-speed automatic transmission system. Apart from this, the 120 bhp of peak output gave exceptional power to the car along with a ‘micro-hybrid’ stop-start system.
According to industry experts, the sales of vehicles generally are high as soon as they debut in India but over time, figures gradually fall but Scorpio seems to be an exception to this industry trend. The main reason attributed by industry experts to the success of Scorpio has been Mahindra & Mahindra's vast reach in rural markets where this car is favoured a lot by buyers. Experts also believe that Indian companies fare pretty well in rural areas as customers tend to prefer buying vehicles from them over foreign firms.
However, the model still has to toil its way in future as the additional excise duty concurred on Scorpio has affected its sales. Further giving details on this issue, Pravin Shah, Chief Executive for Automotive Sector of Mahindra & Mahindra said “It is not a level playing field anymore. The 3 per cent additional duty has affected sales of the Scorpio. But the customer preference indicates that the Scorpio still has the competitive edge. We have been looking at the product to meet regulatory requirements, we are looking at options. Product development takes time. We will remember to not to take out the capabilities of a tough off-roader. We need to do the balancing act". It must be noted that, Mahindra & Mahindra recently lowered the prices of its premium SUV, the XUV500, by as much as Rs. 30,000 after reducing its ground clearance.
At present, the segment of Scorpio comprises Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport and now with Nissan lining up Terrano, the competition is expected to reach another level. It will be interesting to see how Mahindra Scorpio fares against its rival in near future. In the meanwhile, strong reports have suggested that Mahindra & Mahindra might be introducing a new revamped model of Scorpio that will bear significant changes in the exteriors and the interiors. However, as far as launch date is concerned, the car would not be available in India till the end of 2014.
