Witnessed 60 pc rise in dealer-reported customer retail for SUVs during Navratri: M&M

New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has witnessed a 60 per cent growth in dealer-reported customer retail for SUVs during Navratri, with customers who postponed purchases in expectation of price cuts after GST reduction adding to sales, its CEO, Automotive Division Nalinikanth Gollagunta said on Monday.

The company, which has launched the refreshed version of its Bolero range with prices starting at Rs 7.99 lakh, is witnessing good traction in the rural market as well, Gollagunta told PTI.

"In the first nine days of Navaratri for us, SUV growth in terms of the dealer-reported customer retail is about 60 per cent, which is a significant growth compared to the same nine days of Navratri last year," he said, adding, the real retail numbers would come out in VAHAN data.

That 60 per cent growth has also some pent-up demand, which did not happen before, as a lot of customers were waiting for the new GST rates to come in, Gollagunta noted.

"It is very clear in our minds that there is quite a bit of growth, which has come from just the GST 2.0 to some extent. It is also showing up on walk-ins and inquiries that number has also seen very healthy growth," he added.

He was responding to a query on the company's sales in the ongoing festive season in the GST 2.0 regime.

On the refreshed Bolero range, Gollagunta said M&M has retained the intrinsic qualities of the Bolero based on customer feedback, such as road presence, looks, engine performance and the body-on-frame architecture, while making the vehicle contemporary by adding new tech features and infotainment.

"Currently, we are focused on getting to that 9,000 or so (units a month), which is our capacity, and we'll stay there, and let's see how the reception to this product is and we will take a call after that," he said when asked if the contribution of the Bolero range to M&M's overall SUV sales will grow further.

The company has a total capacity of 9,000 units a month for the Bolero range, translating to about 1,08,000 per year, he said, adding that "traditionally, we do about 100,000-plus, which is about 8,500 units on a monthly basis on average", contributing about 20 per cent of M&M's overall SUV sales annually.

At present, the Bolero range is doing almost 95 per cent capacity utilisation, he said, adding that "but this number does change significantly during festive...because the rural market picks up significantly for the first two months in and around festive (season)".

Stating that in its life of 25 years, the Bolero range has sold over 16 lakh units cumulatively, Gollagunta said the 'original Bolero' has "definitely something which has a strong rural bent to it in Tier II and III cities" with customers ranging from entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises and government usage.

On the other hand, Bolero Neo "is a bit more urban and semi-urban market", attracting professionals, government employees, entrepreneurs and SMEs (small & medium enterprises) as customers, he added.

While the new Bolero (original) is priced between Rs 7.99 lakh and Rs 9.69 lakh, the Bolero Neo now comes at a price range of Rs 8.49 lakh to Rs 9.99 lakh.

Gollagunta said over a period of time, the company will start to see how to extend the Bolero brand into other sub-brands, but "we have not gotten to that point yet". PTI RKL SHW