Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India’s leading utility vehicle maker, has achieved a lot more with its iconic model XUV500 SUV than expected. Interestingly, the model happens to be the fastest selling vehicle in the SUV segment of the Indian auto market. Despite a slowdown in the Indian auto sector from the last 16 months, the sales of XUV500 crossed the mark of 50,000, which makes its accomplishment even more commendable.
Reportedly, the idea behind the Cheetah inspired model was to introduce a car, which should not just be an ideal offering to the domestic audience, but also a stiff model in the international auto markets. M&M started working on the model somewhere in 2007 and its success was forecasted within just 2 weeks of its launch as XUV500 received an overwhelming response of 8,000 bookings.
Owing to the brilliant demand for the model, the auto maker was forced to postpone its further deliveries in the Indian auto market. M&M later introduced the model with a higher price, which was then well appreciated by the Indian audience. The reopening of Mahindra XUV500’s bookings was conducted in January 2012, wherein the auto company received more than 25,000 bookings of the model and it was left with only 7,200 XUV500’s. The company then decided to select the names through a draw and announced the lucky winners online.
Reportedly, during the first year of its launch, M&M delivered around 35,000 XUV500′s in India, whereas 14,000 bookings were kept pending. It must be noted that the success of Mahindra XUV500 is not just limited to the Indian auto market, and rather the model has carved a niche in other courtiers as well, including South Africa, Italy and Australia. Besides, the auto maker has further planned to introduce the model in other developed auto markets of the world.
