The two-wheeler manufacturing division of Mahindra & Mahindra, according to reports, has made a decision regarding its future plans, confirming that it is going to launch four new vehicles. These vehicles, including an entry level segment bike, scooter and versions of existing models, and aim at increasing the market presence of Mahindra Two Wheelers.
Along with expanding its market presence, Mahindra Two Wheelers is targeting tripling its exports over a period of six months by entering four new international markets. In an interview to PTI, Viren Popli, Chief of Operations for Mahindra Two Wheelers, said, "We have been on a stabilisation mode putting our infrastructure in place in the last one year. With a series of launches in both domestic and international markets, we are now looking at rapid growth.”
Mahindra Two Wheelers has been doing well in the market after the launch of its flagship model Centuro took the market by storm. Now, the company plans to capitalise on the good work it has done to take its market share to a higher level and to facilitate the same, it plans to launch three to four products, which would include a new 300 cc bike called Mojo.
"These will include variants of existing products, a new scooter and also we are looking at the 100-110 cc motorcycle segment," Popli said. He also spoke about how Mahindra Centuro has gone on to post excellent volume growth, thereby ensuring sustenance in a highly competitive market like India, where Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are dominating.
Unlike the Mahindra Centuro, the model Pantero has not been able to make much of an impact in the Indian market and Popli, speaking about speculations regarding its discontinuation, said, "We don't have any such plans. The Pantero continues to be in the market and we will also continue to export Arrow, which is based on the Pantero platform." Sources claim that Mahindra Two Wheelers will increase the sales of this bike in domestic market by expanding the network.
Stating a couple of facts and figures without being precise, Popli explicitly said, “Today we have 1,500 touch points compared to about 600 last year across the country. This will definitely help in growing our volumes". Popli’s words can be easily substantiated by market statistics that show the kind of growth registered by Mahindra Two Wheelers.
In the month of June, the firm reported a gigantic growth of 83 per cent in domestic sales, selling 14389 units as compared to 7849 units in the corresponding period last year. Though the exports count was a little low, Popli was not worried and spoke about the plan in place to improve things. "By the end of the year we will be exporting to a total of 15 countries, up from 11 now. We are looking at entering Colombia and Nigeria and markets adjoining these two countries," he said. Talking a little more about exports, Popli, said. "With the new products coming in, we expect 2-3 times increase in our export volumes in the next six months."
