MUMBAI: Mahindra
& Mahindra
, leader of the Indian utility vehicle segment, made a debut in the Indian compact car market on Wednesday with "Vibe", and added that the company will launch a series of compact vehicles in the coming years as it looks to take on heavyweights like Maruti
Suzuki and Hyundai.The 1500cc Vibe, a product developed out of a platform from its failed JV with France's Renault, hopes to take on models like the Maruti Swift, Hyundai i20 and Toyota Liva, though the task looks daunting considering that Mahindra does not enjoy any significant standing in the compact segment. Mahindra decided to drive in only a diesel version of the Vibe, priced at Rs 5.63 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai), a price seen to be on the "upper side" by many analysts considering that the company is a relative newcomer to the segment.
The Vibe has been developed on a platform from which the Mahindra-Renault JV had produced the no-frills Logan sedan, which turned out to be no-starter in the market after a poor demand. The two had split in 2010, after which Mahindra bought the stake of Renault and also the rights for the platform on which it re-developed the Logan as the Verito and now drove in the Vibe.
"With this car, Mahindra enters the mass-car market in India," said Pawan Goenka, president of
automotive division of the company. While conceding that the segment is perhaps the most-competitive in the Indian passenger vehicle market, Goenka said that Mahindra hopes to still manage to sell "respectable" volumes due to its good brand equity among Indian buyers. The
Maruti Swift remains one of the most-selling premium cars in India, clocking an average sales volume of over 15,000 units per month.
The market is abuzz that Mahindra is looking at developing its own vehicle for smaller car buyers, though Goenka refused to confirm the development. However, he said that ad ditional compact vehicles are on the anvil. "We will certainly have more compact vehicles, and these would be across categories," he told TOI.
The timing of the Vibe's launch is not being seen as very encouraging as the domestic car market is passing through one of its worst phase. Sales had crashed to a negative for the first time in a decade in 2012-13, and the going is expected to be tough for the industry through a big part of this fiscal. Already, numbers have been negative in April and May and companies are being forced to dole out huge incentives and discounts to lure buyers.
Mahindra has managed to grow a handsome 18% last fiscal despite the slump in industry volumes on the back of healthy demand for its UVs and SUVs. However, the company has been facing challenging times this fiscal, and Goenka said the difficult times will continue. "There is nothing very exciting happening, except for the new launches."
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