Mahindra & Mahindra, India's leading utility vehicle maker, seems to be preparing for the launch of its Quanto model in Nepal. Industry experts are of a view that the demand for compact Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in Nepal has been increasing significantly, which has lured a number of auto makers towards the same. Agni Incorporated, the agency that has the authorisation and distribution control of Mahindra cars in Nepal has confirmed that the Quanto would be launched in July 2013, without providing any specified date for the same.
Sources close to the development process stated that there are some reasons which resulted in the launch of Quanto in Nepal. Reportedly, the combined production capacity of both Quanto and Xylo is about 6000-6500 units a month. For the months of the April, May and June 2013, Mahindra had an estimated sales of 2,998 units (Quanto 1,279 and Xylo 1,719) for the month of May 2013. April and June saw striking outcomes with the Quanto dipping to a 3-digit sales figure in June. With these sales figures, it is clearly indicated that it was just 50 per cent of the production capacity that is being put to use by the auto maker.
Export to Nepal would greatly assist Mahindra to maintain and utilise the manufacturing capacity (or to deplete the inventory). The company motivated by the Ford EcoSport's launch in Nepali auto market, come up with the plan to give this part of the auto market a try. Specifically for Nepal, only the C4 and the top end C8 versions will be put to sale. The 3-cylinder diesel engine having capacity of 1.5-litre will continue unchanged, as will the 5+2 layout with rear jumper seats. On this new development, Gyan Chamling, Head of Operations and Marketing at Agni incorporated was quoted as saying, “We are very optimistic about the launch of this compact SUV in Nepal.”
