Mahindra to halt production for 3 days in May

To align production volume with sales figures, Mahindra & Mahindra, India's leading SUV and car manufacturer, is planning to pause the production process at all the manufacturing facilities across India for 3 days in the month of May. We all know that the last FY was one of the worst years for the auto manufacturers in India. Even the excise duty relaxation, introduced in February 2014 failed to enhance the auto sales figures.

In the FY 2013-14, Mahindra & Mahindra recorded a decline of 18.14 percent in sales. Even the last month sales indicated a downfall in both the top sellers of the company's portfolio – Bolero and Scorpio. Bolero saw a decline of 20.8 percent in April with an overall sales of 8942 units compared to 11294 units in March 2014. Mahindra Scorpio holds its popularity even after the launch of compact SUVs like Renault Duster & Ford EcoSport. Being Mahindra's first premium product, it was neck to neck in terms of sales and at times, managed to grab the podium. Though company manages to sell Scorpio in the vicinity of 3000-4000 units per month but the overall sales of the SUV is gradually declining with each passing month. In April 2014, the sales figures were 4092 units compared to March's sales figures of more than 5000 units. Quanto saw a major decline of 56% when comparing the sales of the compact SUV in March and April2014; Verito and Verito Vibe also witnessed a slide of 49.3 and 41.1 percent respectively.

Almost entire line-up of Mahindra is seeing a downfall in sales numbers, but apart from shutting the plants for 3 days, the company is planning to tackle this by launching newer models soon. Bolero has been the top selling utility vehicle in the country for several years and witnessed numerous facelifts in the due course. Now Mahindra is planning to give its sales quencher a thorough makeover. The new Bolero - codenamed S102 is reportedly caught testing on Indian roads. People were expecting the Scorpio facelift at the 2014 Auto Expo in February but M&M did not showcased it but the company is conducting extensive test on the upcoming Scorpio. The upcoming Scorpio facelift will receive radical changes inside out and will be equipped with modern 'in things' like the DRLs and LED tail lamps. Mahindra is also planning to launch a compact SUV codenamed S101, the SUV is expected to hit the market early next year. When launched it will compete with the aggressive compact SUV segment currently led by Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster. In a nutshell, a lot is happening in Mahindra's portfolio and it will definitely help the auto maker in regaining the lost grounds. Cheers!   

Source: BS