Mahindra to ramp up new Thar production by 50% to meet surge in demand

Bookings for the new Mahindra Thar, which was launched on October 2, have crossed the 20,000 mark. As a result, the waiting period for the snazzy SUV has shot up to six months. According to the company, the waiting period ranges between 5 to 7 months, on select variants. The variants that are seeing maximum demand are the Hard Top Automatic and Manual (both in diesel and petrol options).

A sub-Rs 10 lakh starting price has helped the new Thar attract a whole new section of customers. The 2020 Mahindra Thar’s price range starts at Rs 980,000 for the base AX petrol-manual and tops out at Rs 13.75 lakh for the fully-loaded LX diesel-automatic (all prices, ex-showroom).

Production capacity being ramped up by 50%
In an effort to reduce the waiting period, Mahindra & Mahindra says it is “fast tracking the process of increasing the production capacity both at its Nashik facility and the supplier end.”

The first Thar was delivered on November 1 to Aakash Minda, the online auction winner. The company has also planned mega deliveries of over 500 Thars during the weekend, across the country.

Commenting on the booking milestone, Veejay Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “We are overwhelmed with this unprecedented response that the new Thar has garnered. I must admit the response has surpassed all our expectations and production capacities. Hence the wait for the new Thar will be longer than expected. We sincerely appreciate our customers’ patience and unwavering confidence in us.”

Nakra  added, “We had planned for a capacity of about 2,000 vehicles per month and are now getting ready to ramp it up to 3,000 by January. This would help us bring down the waiting period to a reasonable timeline.”

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