Mahindra has created a record of sorts in April, with three of its models taking pole position in the domestic utility vehicles (UV) segment. Sales of M&M’s Xylo, Bolero and Scorpio models last month overtook Toyota’s Innova and the Sumo and Safari models of Tata Motors. The Xylo continues its strong run since its launch in January 2009 and has posted its highest monthly sales in April. Till now, the company has delivered over 10,000 Xylos and recently raised the price of the vehicle by around Rs 10,000.
Their combined market share stood at 65% last month compared with 47% a year ago. M&M saw a 16% jump in April sales (including from joint ventures) to 22,617 units, as elections boosted demand for its UV products tailor-made for rough terrain of rural India. Over 6,000 units of the Bolero were sold in April, with the newly-launched Xylo selling 3,509 units and the Scorpio doing 3,100 units. Against this, the Toyota Innova sold 2,834 units, while the Tata Sumo sold 1642 units (including 174 units of Grande) and the Safari sold 774 units.
After the launch of the Xylo, company officials maintain that some amount of cannabalisation would occur among its UV products. Since Xylo’s launch, M&M has witnessed around 15% cannibalisation between the SUVs.
