Marazzo has been a huge leap of faith for his company in terms of successful efforts in global collaboration, says Anand Mahindra
Putting together synergies of its global subsidiaries, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Monday introduced Marazzo, a multi-utility vehicle (MUV) targeted at large families and businesspersons.
Priced starting Rs 9.99 lakh, Marazzo will compete with Toyota's Innova Crysta and Maruti Suzuki's Ertiga, two successful vehicles in the segment that has otherwise seen more misses than hits, say analysts.
While Ertiga and Crysta clock in excess of 4,000 and 6,500 units a month, respectively, Datsun GO plus sells barely 350 units and Renault Lodgy has been able to reach 100 units a month.
With this launch, the maker of hugely successful Scorpio wants to hold on to its market share in the UV segment, which has dwindled in the past couple of years. Though the senior executives at M&M did not specify the targeted sales for Marazzo, they claim that Marazzo together with a future sports utility vehicle (SUV) launch codenamed S201 will be able to sell around 9,000-9,500 units per month. The launch of S201 is expected early next year.
Also, the company is confident that Marazzo will not cannibalise any of M&M's existing products, as the targeted customers this time are different.
Anand Mahindra, executive chairman, M&M, said that launch is a definitive moment for the company as it enters a new orbit. Talking to DNA Money, Mahindra said that Marazzo has been a huge leap of faith for his company in terms of successful efforts in global collaboration.
On M&M losing market share in UVs, Mahindra said that the definition of SUV keeps changing with each passing day as some car makers just by making a few small changes here and there tend to place such products as SUVs. Also, the overall market size is increasing, he added.
On the changing global dynamics in car-making business, Mahindra said that today all the automobile makers in the world tend to scratch their heads thinking about the fast-changing dynamics of the industry, the result of which is that most of the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are building on scenarios and options where they can continue to play in future. "Now how much more dynamic can the market get?"
According to the company executives, the product took around four years in the making and was developed at a cost of around $20 million.
Engineering collaboration was between Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA) and Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) in Chennai. The design was done via collaboration between M&M's in-house team and its Italy-based subsidiary Pininfarina. Going forward, the company will continue to generate more products from such collaborations, the executives added.
The analysts claim that although MUVs have been around in the Indian market for quite some time, the products available were not targeted at the urban consumers. A majority of them were essentially for the rural and semi-urban markets where such vehicles are used to supplement the public transport system and as off-road vehicles. "Now with the entry of luxurious MUV, I hope the market for it will see some traction," said a Mumbai-based analyst.
According to analysts, the UV space in India is witnessing sales growth of around 30%, with most of the vehicles sold being SUVs. The MUV segment grew at around 8% and it clocks around 10,000-12,000 units a month.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Anand Mahindra, executive chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra (right) and Pawan Goenka, managing director at the launch of multi-utili")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}