Mahindra’s new sports utility vehicle (SUV), the XUV500,
has made a big impression in South Africa already, with sales of 320 units
since it was unveiled for the media on September 30 and subsequently for the
public at the Johannesburg International Motor Show in early October.
“We are delighted with the sales figures and the strong
interest in our new product,” said the CEO of Mahindra South Africa, Ashok
Thakur. “Our first batch of the new model – 150 units - only arrived in the
third week of December. January was thus the first full calendar month when we
had adequate stock and we sold 106 units in what is traditionally a slow sales
month after the festive season break.”
The Mahindra senior executive in SA said the response from
early buyers had been very positive, with comments like: “Seven seats with all
these features for less than R250 000 … it’s the value-for-money buy in SA
…”, “The XUV500 has every feature under the sun as standard,” “it’s
unbelievably good,” “fuel consumption is freakishly good,” “it’s a winner. At
this price, nothing compares with it.”
Mahindra SA’s parent company – Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
-, which is the acknowledged leader in the domestic SUV market, is also
enjoying very strong demand for its latest SUV, which is all-new from the
ground up and aimed at both the Indian and international markets.
This demand for the XUV500 has been mirrored by
many positive reports in the motoring and business media in India, with many
writers citing styling, fuel economy, a high level of standard equipment and
excellent value for money,” as major positives.
Post-launch bookings for the XUV500 in its home
market have had to be limited due to production constraints with the first
8 000 units (the initial four months’ production) being booked in less
than 10 days. At this initial stage, the product had been launched in only five
cities.
The second round of bookings opened on January 25 and was
extended to 19 Indian cities. It received an overwhelming response with more
than 25,000 booking applications being received. A draw – overseen by Deloitte Touche Tomatsu India –
will now be made to select customers as the bookings already exceed the
availability of 7 200 units. The order books closed on February 3.
STORY COURTESY OF WILKEN COMMUNICATIONS
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