M&M mulls small Verito family...

The face-lifted Verito, launched recently, marks the start of Mahindra & Mahindra’s plans to have a passenger car family, albeit small, in its vehicle portfolio. For starters, the refreshed Verito will be joined by a sub-4-metre sibling during this financial year. Given that hatchbacks comprise the single largest segment in India’s car market, M&M may also consider a hatchback version.

A hatchback will further drop the entry-level price for a Mahindra passenger car. At present, the Verito range starts at an ex-showroom, New Delhi, price of Rs 5.27 lakh. No concrete plan for a hatch now but Pravin Shah, chief executive, automotive sector, M&M, says: “If there is a demand, we can look at all such possibilities.”

M&M along with erstwhile partner Renault had planned to launch a seven-seater version of the Logan but shelved it later. Given the growing opportunity for seven-seater models, it won’t be surprising if M&M engineers build a seven-seater on the Verito platform.

Shah is confident that the new Verito will add to the numbers of its only passenger car offering currently. “We feel we have adequately addressed the customer concerns; this product should give us respectable volumes,” he adds. Last fiscal, M&M sold around 18,000 Veritos.

. . .hopes for government subsidy before NXR launch

M&M is set to start a new chapter this festive season with the launch of its first electric vehicle – NXR – after it acquired Reva Electric Cars in 2010.

The absence of any fiscal subsidy, as of date, to support electric vehicles will have a significant impact on the NXR’s pricing. There’s still a possibility of support from the government, in the form of re-introducing incentives for electric vehicle technology. “We still expect something concrete can or should come up, otherwise someone cannot expect to have a sizeable number coming out from this. It restricts the growth opportunities,” says Shah.

Meanwhile, Mahindra Reva’s all-new manufacturing plant in Bangalore has bagged the ‘Platinum’ rating from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). It is claimed to be the first automobile plant in India to receive this certification. The plant, with an installed annual capacity of 30,000 units, is slated for an August 22 inauguration.

SUMANTRA BAROOAH