Mahindra is one of the oldest Indian auto manufacturer and is well acclaimed for the performance of its vehicles in various terrains and climatic conditions. The Mahindra Group has recently revealed its plans for expanding their market share and are aiming for acquiring a premium tag for Mahindra. Mahindra has been known for incorporating new technologies and their vehicles have been reliable for the buyers with low maintenance costs. Mahindra has only manufactured four wheel drive jeeps earlier but has started offering products in various segments from the last ten years.
Mahindra wanted to acquire a premium brand in order to change its fortunes. It had tried hard to acquire Jaguar Land Rover earlier in 2007 but couldn’t lay its hands on it and had also shown interest in acquiring Aston Martin in 2012. The acquisition of premium brands will have a large impact on the group’s growth as it can develop new technologies and can design vehicles which satisfy the requirements of global consumers. After acquiring SsangYong, Mahindra feels it can also re-position itself as a premium player by taking cues from the Korean brand. The company is currently concentrating on build quality and there will be a change in the interior layouts in all its offerings in the coming years.
We can expect Mahindra to launch a new vehicle which is more powerful and costlier than the XUV500 which is its highest priced vehicle currently. The Mumbai based automaker is also having plans to position SsangYong brand in the luxury segment. SsangYong might see a re-branding within a few months as it is difficult to spell and the word has negative connotation in various global markets. The Mahindra Group has appointed the New York based creative agency Strawberry Frog to give the necessary inputs and conduct market surveys for the group’s re-branding strategy.
Source – Financial Express
