Mahindra and Mahindras Rs 2,500 crore Chakan plant near Pune is all set to roll out a new heavy truck in another two months. The 40-ton heavy truck named Mahindra Navystar is part of its 51:49 joint venture with International Truck and Engine Corporation of the US. The truck was showcased in the 2010 Auto Expo in New Delhi. The mini-truck Mahindra Maximo that had a national launch in the city on Wednesday is the first product to be rolled out from the Chakan plant spread over 700 acres. Bharatendu Kapoor,vice president- sales,automotive sector,M&M said that future products that could include a passenger car would be manufactured in the Chakan plant. The passenger car will be a 5-7 seater,which will be launched within seven months. The assembly line,body shop and paint shop is functional now and for new products a new assembly line will be added to the existing one, said Kapoor. He said the Chakan plant has a capacity to manufacture 2,000 Maximos per year and it would be scaled up to 3,000 by the end of May. In Phase 1,we are launching it in northern and western India,Bihar and Jharkand,to be followed by the south in the second phase. We expect the Maximo to be a game changer at the bottom of the pyramid in the mini-truck segment, said Kapoor. M&M rivals in this segment include Tata Ace that has about 90 per cent market share followed by vehicles from Piaggio and Bajaj Auto. The segment that was created in 2007 with the arrival of Tata Ace has cornered a market share of 42 per cent in 2009 in the overall commercial vehicle space from 24 per cent two years ago. We are trying to tap the emerging segment with the launch of Maximo that has a mileage of 20 km per litre. The Maximo is the first mini-truck with C2 CRDe technology and comes with a price tag of Rs 2.78 lakh (ex showroom Pune). The Maximo is also available with free maintenance for one year or 40,000 km a first for the segment, said Kapoor. Mahindra now sells 5,500 pick-ups and 3,500 three-wheelers. The Mahindra Geo that was launched last October has a sales volume of 2,000 per month.
