M&M to raise Chakan plant capacity to meet XUV 500 demand

Buoyed by the excellent response to its newly-launched global sports utility vehicle (SUV) – XUV500 – Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) plans to raise the production capacity of the all-wheel drive vehicle at its Chakan plant near Pune to 3,000 units per month during the next fiscal.

According to senior vice-president Arun Malhotra, the demand was clearly in excess of what the company could roll out. He added the company was focusing efforts to hit a volume of 3,000 units, from the existing 2,500 per month, in the short run and then ramp it up further.

Since its launch on 29 September last year, the XUV500 grossed 8,000 bookings in just 10 days, following which M&M suspended new bookings in October due to inability to meet the demand. (See: M&M launches global sports utility vehicle XUV 500)

The booking had opened only in five cities Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune then.

Announcing the launch of XUV500 in the Hyderabad market, Malhotra said, the primary objective of the company was to ensure that customers did not have to wait.

He added, the company aimed to supply to the first lot and then go to other cities, and by the end of February it would try to deliver all the 8,000 units that had been booked.