Mahindra Two Wheelers to increase export focus

Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd (MTWL) is intensifying its focus on exports and would start exports to an additional five countries by the end of this fiscal, which will see its tally of overseas destinations at 14 from nine at present.

The company added it would create special variants for export.

The company which launched the Centuro N1 yesterday, a new variant of the 100cc bike Centuro, which it introduced in the market six months ago has also lined up 7-8 new models of bikes and scooters, which will be introduced over next two to three years.

The Mahindra Mojo, a 300cc motorcycle developed in-house would be the earliest to hit the road.

Speaking on the sidelines of the new launch Anoop Mathur, president, two- wheeler sector, said that the company was ramping-up production capacity at its Pithampur plant.

According to Viren Popli, executive vice-president, two wheeler sector, the target was to achieve 10-15 per cent of the total sales through exports over the next 24-36 months.

The Centuro N1, a 110cc motorcycle is priced at Rs45,700. The Centuro, which launched six months ago has clocked sales of 100,000 units. While company officials were not forthcoming about the line-up for the coming months, reports quoting sources said a top-end variant of the Centuro and Mojo, with better performance and more capacity, would be launched at the upcoming Auto Expo.

Mathur said the Centuro had been very well received in the market. He added, the company had raised production at its Pitampur plant in Madhya Pradesh to 1,500 units a day, which could be further expanded to 2,000 units a day.

With its other two-wheeler models Pantero, Rodeo and Duro, not having been able to make a dent in the competition, Mahindra has decided to focus on the Centuro. The production facility of Pantero has been given to Centuro and the former is produced only when there is a demand for it.

The economy bike segment (100-110cc) has seen much action from several strong two-wheeler players in the market, with Bajaj launching two variants of the Discover 100 motorcycle, while Hero MotoCorp, too, had refreshed its Splendor.

Honda currently, has three offerings in this space and has increased capacity to service further demand.

This segment clocks 550,000 units every month with  M&M holding a share of under 5 per cent. Hero MotoCorp enjoys the dominant position in the segment with the Splendor and Passion range.