Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) Limited, the country's favourite utility vehicle maker, has announced to begin export operations of its XUV500 model to the Latin American auto markets by September 2013. The company has also revealed intentions to expand its consumer base in Africa and enter into previously ignored markets of the continent.
Commenting on the company's vehicle export operations across the globe, Pravin Shah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Automotive Division, M&M, was quoted as saying, “We have started exporting of XUV500 to Europe from last month. We are in the process of expanding the global presence of the vehicle and will start exports to Latin America during the first half of next fiscal.”
At present, M&M has presence in South African automobile market, where it exports the locally manufactured XUV500 premium Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) units. Evidently, the success of XUV500 in South Africa has entailed the Indian utility vehicle maker to explore new options in other vehicle markets of the continent as well.
M&M is the country's leading utility vehicle manufacturer and ended 2012 on a hugely successful note, with three of its models being credited among the biggest successes of last year in the auto market. The company's Quanto compact SUV and premium utility vehicle offerings - XUV500 and SsangYong Rexton witnessed impressive sales, which lead to an increase in their waiting periods in the country.
Accordingly, the company has decided to ramp up the production operations of Quanto, XUV500 and Rexton, in order to cut down their average waiting periods, starting this January. It is possible that the hike in production capacities could also be intended for the M&M's export operations.
Informing about the hike in production capacities of the aforementioned models, Shah added, “To meet domestic demand and expand our exports, we are increasing the monthly production capacity of XUV500 to 5,000 units from this month. The waiting period for Rexton is 2-4 months. The vehicle is assembled here. While some parts are locally sourced, some components are imported from Korea. Because of this, we have not been able to increase the capacity rapidly.”
At present, M&M has a global presence in the automobile industry and exports its vehicles to the auto markets of United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Serbia, Turkey, Macedonia, United States, China, South Africa Chile, Brazil and several Middle East nations. However, most of the company's international export business focuses on the farm equipment sector, comprising of products like tractors. Further, M&M also sells its pick-up trucks and Scorpio SUV units in Brazil, which is Latin America's biggest country.
