DriveInside.com | Thursday August 26, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) signed an MoU with South Korean auto company, Ssangyong Motor, recently to acquire a majority stake in the latter. Mr Pawan Goenka, president and CEO of M&M’s automotive sector, told mediapersons that the deal would help the company complement its existing range of SUVs in the country, and strengthen its competencies in Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday July 22, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra is planning to launch motorcycles ranging from low-cost to premium models, within the next few months. The company’s two-wheeler unit, headed by Anoop Mathur, is expected to break even in FY 2011-12, and will equal its immensely successful tractor and SUV businesses in size within the next 7 years. For its motorcycle unit, the Read More...
DriveInside.com | Friday July 16, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) may soon launch a smaller version of the Mahindra Xylo, priced at Rs 4.5-5 lakh. According to media reports, the compact Xylo will be less than 4 metres in length, and will attract an excise duty of 10 percent, applicable to small cars. The vehicle is expected to be launched by 2011, and will be the smallest SUV in the Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday July 15, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is planning to build an assembly plant in South Africa, where its sales have gone up by almost 80 percent since the beginning of 2009. The company had earlier decided against setting up a local plant in SA. However, with sales picking up at a rapid pace, it has started looking at the benefits of having an assembly plant Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday July 5, 2010
Auto-company Kinetic Motor, which entered into a joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra in 2008, may restart its two-wheeler operations in 2013. The company had signed a five-year non-compete agreement with M&M when the JV was formed. The agreement will expire in July 2013, after which Kinetic is expected to start marketing its two-wheelers again. Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday July 1, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has contested the lawsuit filed against it by its American distributor, Global Vehicles (GV). The Indian company has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which it says is without merit. M&M was getting ready to launch its commercial vehicles in the US this year, when GV filed the lawsuit, accusing it of delaying the Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday June 22, 2010
Malaysian auto company, Proton, said this week that it was looking for an Indian partner to enter the rapidly growing passenger car market in the country. The Managing Director of Proton, Mr Syed Zainal, said that the company was in talks with an Indian auto firm, but refused to disclose its name. He also denied the recent media reports that had Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday June 21, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra may form an alliance with Malaysian auto company, Proton, to sell the Lotus range of sports cars in India and manufacture Proton’s small cars. According to industry analysts, M&M is looking to complete its range of vehicles by entering the sports car segment. The Lotus brand, which was bought over by Proton in the 1990s, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday June 17, 2010
An Atlanta-based company, Global Vehicles USA, has filed a lawsuit against Mahindra & Mahindra for delaying the launch of its pick-up trucks in the US. M&M had signed a distribution agreement with Global Vehicles in 2006, and had originally planned to launch its vehicles in the US in 2008. However, the launch got delayed twice due to the Indian Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday June 7, 2010
The Indian auto industry continued to grow at a rapid pace in May 2010, in spite of repeated price hikes following the announcement of Budget 2010. Maruti Suzuki did particularly well, posting its highest ever domestic sales in the month at 90,041 units – 27 percent higher than its sales in May 2009. The company’s total sales in May 2010 stood at Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday June 3, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra has witnessed a significant increase in the sales of its entry-level sedan, the Logan, after the end of its joint venture with French automaker Renault. A little over a month back, M&M bought Renault’s 49 percent stake in the JV, and slashed the Logan’s price shortly thereafter. The car’s sales stood at 450 units in May 2010, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday May 29, 2010
Auto company Mahindra & Mahindra and the Kolkata-based Ruia Group have both put in their bids to buy the bankrupt South Korean company, Ssangyong Motor Corp. Other bidders include French carmaker Renault, Korean aluminium producer, the SM Group, and the local manufacturer of Daewoo buses. The bids are estimated to have ranged from $300 million to Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday May 27, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has acquired a 55.2 percent stake in Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) headed by the Maini Group. The acquisition will help M&M establish a firm foothold in the rapidly growing electric vehicle segment. Mr Pawan Goenka, President of M&M (Automotive and Farm Equipment), said at a press conference that the Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday May 2, 2010
After the end of a successful financial year in March 2010, passenger car companies in India continued on their upward trajectory in April 2010. Maruti Suzuki’s total domestic sales stood at 80,034 units in April 2010, up from 64,857 units in April 2009 – an increase of 23.4 percent. While the company’s passenger car sales grew substantially, its Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday April 27, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra may buy a stake in Korean SUV-manufacturing company, SsangYong Motor Company (SMC), according to a report in the Korea Economic Daily. The report said that M&M had sent a letter to SMC recently, saying it was interested in buying controlling rights in the former. However, neither of the two companies confirmed the news. SMC, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday April 17, 2010
Mahindra-Renault Private Limited (MRPL), the joint venture between Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Renault, has come to an end with M&M deciding to buy out Renault’s 49 percent stake in the venture. The companies issued a joint statement last week saying that M&M would get full control of the venture, and would continue to produce and sell the Logan Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday April 1, 2010
Mr Pawan Goenka, President of Mahindra & Mahindra’s Automotive Sector, took the additional responsibility of the company’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES) this week. Mr Goenka replaces Mr Anjanikumar Choudhari, who retired on March 31, 2010, as President - FES. The move to appoint Mr Goenka as the head of FES is a part of M&M’s strategy to create Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday March 27, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) may not make any new investments in its joint venture with French car maker Renault, and is likely to hand over the management and control of the JV to the latter. At present, M&M has a 51 percent stake in Mahindra-Renault, which is likely to go down over time. Mahindra-Renault sells only the Logan in India right now, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday March 14, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra opened its new manufacturing facility in Chakan, near Pune, last week. The plant, which will see an initial investment of Rs 5,000 crore, was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Chavan. It covers an area of 700 acres, and will have an annual production capacity of 300,000 units, including 50,000 trucks. The Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday February 28, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra is planning to launch 9 new vehicle models across the various segments it operates in, including two-wheelers, by March 2011. Mr Pawan Goenka, the President of the company’s automotive sector, said that the new models will include the electric version of the Maxximo, which was showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo in January. Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday February 27, 2010
A number of auto companies in the country have hiked car prices following the announcement of Budget 2010-11 last week, which increased the excise duty on all non-oil products from 8 percent to 10 percent. The excise duty on bigger cars, which stood at 20 percent earlier, has also gone up to 22 percent. The companies that have announced definitive Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday February 13, 2010
Leading utility-vehicle manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra, is all set to expand its multi-brand car service business. At present, the company has 7 multi-brand service outlets in India. It plans to increase the number to 450 in the next 3-4 years. The automobile service business in India is dominated by unorganized service centres, in spite of Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday February 4, 2010
Mahindra & Mahindra launched its new light-truck, the Maxximo, in Mumbai this week. The Maxximo is priced at Rs 2.79 lakh (ex-showroom, Navi Mumbai), and complies with the Bharat Stage III emission norms. It will compete directly with the current leader in the light-truck segment, Tata Motors’ Ace, which is priced at Rs 2.78 lakh and complies with Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday February 1, 2010
Auto company Mahindra & Mahindra announced this week that it would launch 6-7 new variants of its existing vehicles in FY 2010-11. The new variants will cover all the segments the company operates in, including utility vehicles, commercial vehicles and three-wheelers, said M&M President (Automotive), Mr Pawan Goenka. In addition, the company will Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday January 19, 2010
Maruti Suzuki last week increased the prices of all its models except the Eeco, the petrol Swift and the Gypsy. The hike ranges from 0.12 per cent in the Ritz VDi to to 1.9 per cent in the DZire LXi. The Maruti Estilo, launched in August 2009, is costlier by Rs 1,243 to Rs 2,486. The company said that while it had absorbed increased input costs in Read More...