Mahindra and Mahindra today unveiled its eighth sports-utility-vehicle (SUV), the TUV 300 that has been built on all new platform. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Pawan Goenka says the new vehicle has been inspired by the strength of a battle tank as it is on the toughest product.
He says the SUV will be launched mid-September out of its Chakan plant.
Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview to CNBC-TV18.
Q: Can you share some inputs on what this product is going to be and when do we expect its launch this year?
A: It is a brand new platform that we have developed as a true blue SUV segment and we are producing this product as a tough product, that is a design theme that we have taken and today we have talked about how the design is evolved inspired by a battle tank because that is a toughest product that one can see and we are bringing in totally new design, new platform and new body, a new interior design. It is a product that will be launched mid-September out of our Chakan plant.
Q: If you could help us understand that where do you intend to position this product in your current portfolio of SUVs, some sort of indication of what the pricing could be?
A: I cannot talk about pricing yet because that we will announce when we will unveil the product in mid-September. However, this product is positioned as an SUV product, it is not a crossover like many of the newer products that are coming out, it is a hard, blue-eyed SUV product that is coming out. It will be positioned in urban-rural segment combined, it is not a product that is focused on rural segment, it is not a product that is replacing any of our current products, brand new products and creating a new product sub-segment for us in the SUV space.
Q: When could we expect this product to hit Indian roads?
A: Ideally by mid-September that we will be launching it and it will be available for sell immediately as soon as it is launched.
Q: What are your initial targets as far as production of this product goes?
A: These days, production is never a constraint, we will have ample capacity to meet consumer demand and we will talk little bit about what our targets would be when we will launch the product. Today was just a prelaunch to announce the name and give a little bit of idea of positioning and the design theme of the product.
Q: Also at sub- 4 meters this is likely to be called a compact SUV, but the real question is that why the timing of this launch is going to be a little bit questionable because it is coming a little later in the day if you would have agreed given that Hyundai has already launched a Creta and this space has already seen a lot of competition, how will you differentiate the TUV300 from other products and how will you also ensure that this product does not cannibalise on your existing portfolio particularly the Scorpio?
A: We are the leaders in the SUV segment in India and therefore unlike most other brands we have multiple products in this segment and as you said this is the 8th one that we are launching and we will have all of these products co-exist and therefore clearly when we design these products, when we develop the themes for this product, we are very careful in ensuring that we have a uniqueness about that product which does not cannibalise any product that is adjacent to it. There will always be little bit but that cannot be avoided and that is desirable but by and large this product will establish on its own sub-segment just like previous products have, the XUV, the Scorpio, the Xylo, the Bolero all of these products have done that in the past. Similarly, here the positioning is on tough which is different from rugged, which is different from offroad, which is different from touring, it is a tough positioning and therefore appeal to customers who are looking for that kind of vehicle, it is also a statement on the person itself, it is not just about utility of the vehicle, it is about the statement and the person who will be owning this vehicle and driving this vehicle and that is how will we positioning it.
Q: So this is going to be a tough vehicle as you call it, is it going to be marketed differently from the other products that have been previously marketed, how is that marketing going to differ and more importantly where do you see the initial burst of sales coming in from the rural markets or from the urban markets?
A: As I said earlier that the product is not targeted at a rural customer per se but today the rural customer is not necessarily bounded by certain products that we call rural products and rural customer looks for the same kind of products that urban customer would look for and therefore I would expect the sales to be divided between urban and rural customers.
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