'We want to be a being a full range player,'
Says Vivek Nayer, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Automotive Sector Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
-Mahindra is always associated with SUVs and MUVs. Will there now be an emphasis on making it a wide spectrum brand?
The last few vehicles launched by Mahindra were actually in the commercial vehicle segment and small commercial vehicle segment. We first launched the Gio which is a compact four wheeler and then we launched the Maximo which is a mini truck and they both are doing fairly well.
We’ve already declared our intention of being a full range player. We have been bringing in more products and filling in gaps where we see gaps, whether it is on the personal products side or the commercial vehicles products side. You have seen Mahindra enter into the two-wheeler and large truck arena, you have seen Reva happen and you have seen Ssangyong happen. All of this is expanding the portfolio. We want to be a full range player.
And there is always something going on at Mahindra.
- What value will the Ssangyong deal bring to India?
Ssangyong offers some options to us. One is to bring a few high end SUV’s into the country. Currently above Scorpio and the Global SUV there is a sort of an empty space, and Ssangyong offers an opportunity to fill that up. We will study the market, do some consumer research and then decide which product we want to bring in.
-When can we see the Global SUV?
The Global SUV will definitely come in 2011. When it is ready you will know more
-Mahindra now lays an immense emphasis on motorsports.
Our core is this space of SUV. SUV’s, lifestyle and adventure go hand in hand. It is important for us to position our SUV’s around adventure, lifestyle so on.
We have this property called the Mahindra Great Escape and there are such ten Great Escapes around the country every year and they are immensely popular. For most of them we actually have to turn away people because as there is only a certain number we can handle, this tells us a lot of people are interested.
Urban India has little to offer if you want to have a good time. You can either go out for a play, a dinner or see a movie with your friends. There is nothing else to do. This (Mahindra’s Great Escape) is giving them more options. There will be many more initiatives like the great escape and we will do many more great escapes because the demand is there. People like to change their lifestyle; go out on the weekend, go for a long drive, go into the countryside, get on the kaccha sadak, get to enjoy nature and SUVs are great way to do that.
