Mahindra and Mahindra has rolled out the 15,000th truck from its Pune plant. With this, it plans to refurbish its heavy vehicle business. In addition to this, the company also aims to invest Rs 700 crore to expand its light and intermediate commercial vehicle segment. This will enable the automaker to become a full-range player in the Indian auto market.
"The CV industry has seen an upturn over the last few quarters which is a good sign. At Mahindra, we have been steadily growing and are taking aggressive steps to become a full range player," Rajan Wadhera, president and chief executive of Truck & power train & head of Mahindra Research Valley, Mahindra & Mahindra told The Economic Times.
The company has also aspires to expand its network to 80 3S dealership from 66 currently, 173 authorised service centres from 93, 2516 roadside assistance service points and a retail spares network of 2,000 outlets.
In FY-15, Mahindra & Mahindra posted a growth of over 50% by selling over 3500 units. The good performance is continuing in FY-16 as well.
The market of medium and heavy trucks has grown by 23%, wherein Mahindra Trucks and Buses has managed to outpace the market with a growth of 32.33% in the first quarter by selling over 1000 units. The company's sales in the light commercial vehicle space has, however, have declined slightly by 2% with sales 1429 units in the first quarter.
The Indian automaker has crossed a sales milestone of 1.25 lakh units of light commercial vehicles on Indian roads as well.
Nalin Mehta, chief executive officer & MD, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. told the financial daily that out of the 6,000 customers using Mahindra's trucks in various applications across the country, 30% of them have opted for repeat purchase.