Mahindra Thar tops 200,000 sales, new Thar Roxx accelerates demand

The Mahindra Thar SUV, launched on October 2, 2020 has driven past the 200,000-unit sales milestone in the Indian market. As per the latest SIAM industry wholesales data as well as company monthly sales statistics, the three-door Thar, which has recently been joined by the five-door Thar Roxx sibling, has clocked total sales of 207,110 units till end-October 2024. This confirms the Autocar Professional sales analysis forecast of October 2. 

What has clicked for the second-generation Thar in its three-door avatar is its direct appeal to off-roading aficionados while also luring a large number of buyers with its new ability to be deployed as an everyday SUV as a result of its modern interior and features, relatively easy driving manners and also automatic transmission options.

The introduction of the five-door Thar Roxx as a more mainstream SUV has added tailwinds to the Mahindra Thar brand and widened the target audience. 

In the first seven months of FY2023, the Thar and the Thar Roxx siblings have together sold a total of 42,726 units, which constitutes 19.60% year-on-year growth (April-October 2023: 35,723 units) and is already 65% of the Thar’s total FY2024 wholesales of 65,246 units. What has added tailwind to the Mahindra Thar brand’s sales is the recent launch of the Thar Roxx, which has helped accelerate demand and also widen the target audience as a more practical and more mainstream product than the already popular three-door Thar and also takes the battle into many a rival’s camp.

THAR ROXX AS A DEMAND ACCELERATOR
A quick clue as to how the Thar Roxx has revved up demand lies in the sharply increased monthly dispatches following its reveal and launch on August 14 with aggressive pricing ranging from Rs 12.99 lakh through to Rs 20.49 lakh. Proof of the stellar demand for the Roxx came when bookings opened on October 3 with the latest Mahindra SUV drawing an unprecedented 176,000 bookings within just 60 minutes. That’s 2,933 bookings every minute and constitutes the highest first-day bookings for any of M&M’s SUVs. Customer deliveries began on October 12 – Dussehra – which meant that the company had ensured that its showrooms were well stocked with the Roxx both in September and October.

In September 2024, M&M dispatched 8,843 Thar SUVs to its dealers – 4,932 Thar Roxx and 3,911 Thars. This is the highest monthly dispatch for brand Thar yet. 

As per industry wholesales data for the Thar siblings, in September 2024, M&M dispatched a total of 8,843 Thar SUVs to its dealers – comprising 4,932 Thar Roxx (55.77% of the total) and 3,911 Thars (44.22% of the total). This is the highest monthly dispatch for the Thar brand since its launch four years ago and beating the previous best of 6,160 units of April 2024.

Between April and August 2024, the three-door Thar had clocked wholesales of 25,939 units, up 5% YoY (April-August 2023: 24,713 units). With the entry of the Thar Roxx, combined Thar sibling dispatches in September and October have jumped to 8,843 units (up 63%) and 7,944 units (up 42%) respectively. As a result, cumulative April-October 2024 wholesales at 42,726 units are up by 20% YoY. What’s more, the monthly average for the past two months has jumped to 8,393 units.

Hunting in pairs: Though there has been some cannibalisation of Thar sales by the Thar Roxx, the siblings now reach out to larger target audience.

The marked increase in the Thar brand’s wholesales have resulted in M&M scaling a new monthly high for two straight months. In September 2024, at 51,062 units, up 24% YoY, the SUV maker went past the 50,000 units monthly mark for the first time, and followed it up in October with 54,504 units which sets a new monthly benchmark. The two Thars have contributed 17% and 14.57% in September and October 2024 respectively.

In view of the strong demand for the new Thar Roxx, the company has expanded manufacturing capacity for the model. The Thar, whether three-door or five-door, is still powered by petrol and diesel engines. And there’s a zero-emission avatar in the future Mahindra new product pipeline. A little over a year ago, M&M unveiled the Thar.e concept which will use a modified version of Mahindra’s new INGLO dedicated EV platform and powered by the Volkswagen APP550 electric motor.

M&M is benefiting from its substantially ramped-up production at its factories. Given the strong demand for its SUVs, it has outlined plans to further increase output. On June 14, M&M confirmed that it plans to further increase production capacity to 64,000 units per annum or 768,000 units per annum by end-FY2025 and 72,000 units a month / 864,000 units per annum by end-2026. Mahindra plans a monthly output of 6,500 units for its lifestyle SUV, which also has off-road capabilities. Along with the Thar 3 door, it is planning to produce 9,500 units per month.

At 314,714 units in April-October 2024, M&M has already achieved 68% of its record 459,877 units in FY2024 and is well set to surpass 500,000 units for the first time in a fiscal in FY2025. 

MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA HEADED FOR RECORD SALES IN FY2025
With an armada of SUVs, Mahindra & Mahindra is firing on all cylinders and how! The company, which markets a total of 10 SUVs comprising the Bolero, Bolero Neo, Bolero Neo+, Scorpio N, Scorpio Classic, Thar, Thar Roxx, XUV 3XO, XUV400 and XUV700, has dispatched 314,714 SUVs in the first seven months of FY2025, up 22% YoY (April-October 2023: 258,622 units). Leading the charge are the Scorpio twins with 96,970 units, followed by the XUV 3XO (60,063), Bolero (56,381 units), XUV700 (53,927 units), Thar and Thar Roxx (42,726 units), XUV400 (4,531 units) and the Marazzo (114 units).

Considering that M&M has had two back-to-back record-setting months in September and October, it can be surmised that the same momentum is likely to continue in the remaining five months of the current fiscal.

This also means that M&M is well set to achieve its best-ever fiscal-year dispatches in FY2025. At 314,714 units in April-October 2024, the SUV maker has already achieved 68% of its record wholesales of 459,877 units in FY2024. Given the robust demand for most of its models, Mahindra is on track to achieve wholesales of over half-a-million or 500,000 SUVs for a first time in a fiscal in FY2025.

Seven months into FY2025, M&M is 39,948 units behind Hyundai Motor India (354,662 passenger vehicles). With its higher growth rate as seen in the current fiscal, will Mahindra drive past Hyundai Motor India to take the No. 2 rank in the Indian passenger vehicle industry in FY2025? We simply have to wait till this fiscal year comes to a close.

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