Mahindra & Mahindra targets sales of 80,000-90,000 KUV100s a year: Sources

The all-new KUV100 is set to be Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) most affordable model, and it falls in the biggest segment of the Indian passenger vehicle industry, in terms of price. Therefore, it is but obvious that the vehicle would be expected to sell more than its siblings. Except for the longstanding Bolero, which, surprisingly, continues to top the sales chart for M&M.

We learn from industry sources that M&M is looking at an annual sales volume of 80,000-90,000 units of the KUV100 a year. "The projection is 7,000 units a month from April," says a source. Currently, the Bolero, with average monthly sales of about 10,500 units is M&M's bestseller.

The production capacity of the assembly line at the Chakan, Pune plant, which manufactures the XUV500 flagship and now the KUV100, is to be ramped up from 9,000 to 12,000 units a month. M&M will also begin exporting the KUV100 to right-hand-drive markets from April 1, 2016. The Chakan plant is currently producing 4,000 XUV500s a month.   

The company is also working on finance schemes for college students to buy the KUV100. 

While the projection made looks healthy, it is not always that market performance meets projection. With volatility in the automobile market, projecting sales is becoming increasingly challenging. For example, the projection of the Mahindra Quanto was also apparently 70,000-80,000 units last year. But the actual sales were only a little over 900 during the December 2014-November 2015 period.

Given the positioning of the KUV100, it is likely that the vehicle will please M&M more than disappoint. 

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