Mahindra & Mahindra Plans To Increase Market Share In UV Segment
A known fact that Mahindra & Mahindra, the country’s leading UV manufacturer, is gradually losing its grip in the fast growing UV segment amidst heavy competition. Last financial year, when the segment grew by around 30 per cent, M&M’s UV sales grew by only 0.1 per cent to 222,541 units. Its market share also dipped down below 30 per cent.
Realising this, the company is buckling up to increase its presence in the segment where almost every carmaker now has their best-seller. Pawan Goenka, MD, M&M in a recent interview said that the market share that the company had several years ago was very high when the segment was not highly competitive and today every major player in India has 1 or 2 UV products in their kitty.
“We have obviously six or seven and therefore it is natural to expect that the market share will not remain at that level. Having said that, we are not comfortable with our current market share. We would like it to go up few percentage points and the only way to do that is to have the right product, the right price for the customer,” the MD said.
One in every four vehicles sold in the country last year was a UV and the segment has seen maximum launches in the last 2-3 years by carmakers. Companies like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai continues to increase base for UVs and in the process eating market share of conventional players like Mahindra. Ford, Renault and Toyota also has a strong presence in the segment. But now, M&M plans to regain its crown with a flurry of new launches.
M&M will launch one brand new platform during this year, apart from other two or three launches. As per reports, M&M will launch a premium people carrier (codenamed U321) to compete against the runaway hit Toyota Innova Crysta. The company is reportedly seen on developing UV which will directly compete with compact SUV best seller Creta. Important to notice that M&M has lost its maximum share in the compact SUV space as it was late in the segment and its vehicle TUV300 couldn’t garner an overwhelming response. The vehicle codenamed S201 is expected to hit roads in 2018.
Facelifted versions of Scorpio, XUV500 and the KUV100 will also be launched this year. Another new product codenamed P602 is also lined up for the year.
Goenka is confident that on the back of new launches, M&M’s market share will see a jump. “This year we certainly should see an increase in market share in the UV segment for Mahindra,” Goenka said.
