Mahindra & Mahindra sells 18,197 units in December 2015, posts flat 1% growth

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has reported that its Passenger Vehicles segment (which includes UVs, Cars and Vans) sold 18,197 units in December 2015 as against 17,980 units during December 2014, indicating flat growth of just 1 percent.

M&M, which has a large stable of diesel-engined SUVs, is among the companies adversely affected by the recent ban on new diesel vehicle registration in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

Autocar Professional had visited some M&M dealerships in the capital city a week ago. A sales manager at a Koncept Automobile outlet said that the most affected models are the Scorpio SUV, XUV500, Bolero, Thar and the Xylo. After the NGT order, followed by the ban by the Supreme Court, sales had practically stopped of these above 2.0-litre diesel models. However, the recently launched TUV300 compact SUV, powered by the 1.5-litre mHawk turbocharged diesel engine, seems to be the beneficiary and this retail outlet reported 45 bookings in a single day in December after the ban order.

Mahindra’s newest kid on the block, the KUV100 is pitched to be another strong contender with its mFalcon 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol and diesel motors. To be launched on January 15, it has received around 10 pre-launch bookings at this outlet with 5 being for the petrol version and 4 for the diesel variant. The sales executive says the 1.2-litre segment is a hot selling one and the KUV100 is expected to send the cash registers ringing for M&M and help balance the dip in fortunes of its higher-engined diesel vehicles.

Dealers are also bearing losses. Since dealers register the vehicle models before deliveries to customers, cancellations of bookings for the Scorpio, Thar and XUV500 models during December come with a loss of Rs 10,000 accruing to the dealer per car. This is on account of logistics costs involved in transferring the diesel models to co-dealers in other towns. In some cases, the vehicle manufacturer is also taking back inventories. For instance, this Mahindra showroom has a stock of 200 models and it has seen 40 vehicle cancellations.

Recommended readings:

- Supreme Court diesel ban accelerates shift to petrol cars in Delhi 

- Mahindra explores alternate ways to cope with temporary diesel ban 

- ‘Banning diesel vehicles in Delhi a harsh move’: Dr Pawan Goenka