Mahindra to launch motorcycles-04/08/2010

04/08/2010

Mahindra to launch motorcycles

(JUST SEE HOW BIG 'NAME' SELLS)

After selling record 1 lakh scooters in just 10 months, Mahindra sets eyes on bikes



Mumbai: Having sold a record 1 lakh scooters in a span of just 10 months, Mahindra & Mahindra is now firming up plans to enter the domestic motor-cycle market by end-this year, a top company official said.

"We have achieved a milestone by selling one lakh scooters in just 10 months as against a set target of 18 months. Our plan now is to enter the motor-cycle market by end-this year," Mahindra two-Wheelers' President Anoop Mathur said.

"We are working on a unique product that will be assembled in the same plant where our scooters are manufactured," he said.



The company is designing the motor-cycle at its Italy-based Engines Engineering, which was acquired by the Mahindra group in 2008. Presently, the company's Pithampur facility (where it makes its scooters) has a capacity to make five to six lakh scooters annually.

Buoyed by the robust market response for its scooters, M&M now aims to double its scooter sales from one lakh to two lakh by December 2010.

"What we have achieved in 10 months, we (would) like to achieve in (the next) five months. We plan to sell another one lakh scooters in the next five months," he said.



The company clocked a 329 per cent jump in its two-wheeler sales in July at 12,033 as against 2,808 units in the year-ago period.

"Our July sales have given us the confidence that we can achieve this other milestone in the next five months," the M&M official said.

The Mahindra group had picked up an 11 per cent stake in Kinetic Motor two years ago to gain an entry into the two-wheeler segment. The group had also acquired Engines Engineering of Italy, a design house for two-wheelers, in 2008.



Innovation will hold the key going forward, Mathur said, adding "innovations will help us become a significant player in the global market."

"We aim to establish the Mahindra two-wheeler brand in the international market in the next few years," he said.

The company sees more potential in rural markets in India and plans to significantly increase its dealership network in Tier II and III destinations.



"Presently, we have 350 dealers pan-India and plan to add 50 more this fiscal," he said.

M&M, which is currently exporting two-wheelers to Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, is eyeing more global markets.

"We will be exporting our two-wheelers to Cambodia, South Africa and a few other countries in the coming days. Our dream is to become a global player," he said.

Source: Indian Express