Mahindra & Mahindra rolls out van and small CV on all-new Supro platform

Mahindra & Mahindra has launched two new products on an all-new small commercial vehicle platform called Supro – the 8-seater Supro Van and Supro MaxiTruck for small goods movement. The manufacturer says it will target Tata Ace customers with the Supro MaxiTruck, which comes with a two-year warranty.

The Supro Van is a spacious 8-seater diesel-engined people-mover which M&M says is “ideal for large families and the tour and travel segment.” It is priced at Rs 4.38 lakh (ex-showroom Thane) for the BS III variant. The vehicle’s highlights include “best-in-class seating comfort, class-leading headroom and legroom and large boot space.” It also gets a segment-first electric power steering and air-conditioning.  The Supro van, which has a five-speed transmission and electronic power steering, is powered by Mahindra’s 45hp direct injection turbo diesel engine and delivers a claimed 23.5 kilometres per litre fuel efficiency. The Supro van will be available in three variants – VX (base variant), LX (with power steering) and ZX (with power steering and AC).

The Supro MaxiTruck, which is powered by a 45hp engine with 98Nm torque, bears a sticker price of Rs 4.25 lakh (ex-showroom Thane) compared to the Tata Ace’s Rs 3.87 lakh and the Tata Ace Mega’s Rs 4.31 lakh. The MaxiTruck, which has a payload capacity of 1 tonne, has a top speed of 95kph and delivers a claimed mileage of 22.4 kilometres per litre. M&M says the vehicle is best suited for intra and inter-city travel and will be targeted at both market load operators and captive customers.

The MaxiTruck is available in three variants – T2 (base variant), T4 (with power steering) and T5 (with power steering and AC).

Speaking at the launch in Mumbai today, Pravin Shah, president and chief executive (automotive), M&M, said: “At Mahindra, we have regularly created disruptions in the market and the simultaneous launch of two all-new Supro products is a clear validation of our approach. Both vehicles are set to redefine their respective categories. We have taken a significant leap by comprehensively addressing the needs of customers in both people as well as cargo movement with the launch of the Supro platform.

Built at the company’s Chakan plant, which has a capacity of 320,000 units per annum, M&M says the Supro platform has undergone rigorous and full cycle test runs and has been validated on all performance, safety and reliability parameters.

M&M says it has spent around Rs 120 crore on the development of the Supro platform and the two new products. According to the company, the small commercial vehicle industry in India is on the path to recovery and booming e-commerce and the government’s smart city plan will spur demand for the Supro.