Homegrown sports utility vehicle (SUV) maker Mahindra & Mahindra, on Friday, announced that it would be expanding production capacity for its offerings like XUV3OO, XUV4OO, XUV7OO and Scorpio-N to around 6 lakh units per annum by Q4 FY24. The automaker said the move is expected to reduce the massive waiting periods for its SUV offerings.
Mahindra, in its financial summary for Q2 FY23, said that this capacity expansion plan is to “cater to continued robust demand for new launches, clear existing bookings, reduce the waiting period for the new launches, export upside and gearing up for electric vehicles (EVs).”
Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director of M&M, in a virtual press conference, said, “The company is in the process of enhancing production capacity of its sports utility vehicles over the next 12-15 months to reduce long waiting periods for some of the models like XUV700 and Scorpio-N.”
Mahindra also revealed that the production capacity of its SUVs like XUV300 and XUV400 will rise to 9,500 units, Thar will increase to 6,000 units and Scorpio N will go up to 10,000 units every month. Currently, the automaker is struggling to cater to a massive order backlog which had reached up to 2.6 lakh units by October 2022.
Mahindra’s overall manufacturing capacity is expected to go up from 29,000 units in Q2 FY23 to 49,000 units by Q4 of FY24. The company also revealed that it had invested around Rs 7,900 crore between FY22 to FY24. Moreover, the company, for its electric vehicle portfolio, will also be creating a capacity of up to 17,000 units a month.
Jejurikar, regarding the electric vehicle production capacity, said, “By the year 2027 we expect 20-30 per cent of our SUV volumes to be electric. Some of the capacities will overlap with internal combustion engine (ICE). So, in a way we are preparing for somewhere between 12,000 to 17,000 units a month by 2027 for the electric portfolio.”
In terms of sales, Mahindra saw a 60.45 per cent growth at 32,298 units over last October. In September 2022, the company sold 32,298 units, 12,168 units less than the preceding month. This is also the carmaker’s second-best monthly sales this fiscal.
“In SUVs, we continue to be the revenue market share leader. Festive sales have been strong this year across auto and farm sectors,” Jejurikar added. On the company’s plans regarding the transition to the next stage of emission norms which will kick in from April next year, Jejurikar said “M&M would initiate the process in January-February next year and complete the task in March.”
Mahindra’s current passenger vehicle offerings in the country are – XUV700, Scorpio N, Scorpio Classic, XUV300, Bolero and Bolero Neo. The company, in FY23, had managed to sell 1,99,278 UVs so far, registering a 78 per cent growth against the same period in the last fiscal.
Mahindra’s automotive segment revenue, in the September quarter, grew to Rs 15,231 crore from Rs 8,245 crore in the year-ago period. Similarly, revenue from the farm equipment segment increased to Rs 7,506 crore from Rs 6,723 crore.
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