Mahindra & Mahindra will target western Europe, Latin America, Africa, Australia and southeast Asia with a new sport-utility vehicle called XUV500 that will be introduced by the end of December.
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India’s biggest SUV maker by sales will initially sell the vehicle, XUV500, in the home market and South Africa before its worldwide introduction, Pawan Goenka, president for automotive and farm equipment business, told a news conference, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Mahindra will use its recently acquired Ssangyong sales networkto sell the vehicle, produced at a factory at Chakan in western India, worldwide, he said.
Using Ssangyong’s distribution network will help Mahindra to save on costs as well as time needed for establishing an independent network overseas.
Mahindra, which already sells its SUVs such as the Scorpio and Bolero in several overseas markets, previously announced plans to sell a compact diesel pickup based on the Scorpio platform in the US but that has yet to happen, the WSJ noted.
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By GlobalData
“This is designed as a global SUV and has been designed to meet both the emission and safety requirements of several markets where we have a presence today, and others that we are eyeing,” Goenka said. He said the company plans to sell the XUV500 in more markets after gauging the response in regions such as western Europe and Australia.
The SUV will be offered at a prices from about INR1.2m($26,258) to INR2m, Goenka said.
Mahindra will soon starting selling Ssangyong SUVs in South Africa, Goenka, also the chairman of Ssangyong, said.
Mahindra late last year bought a 70.03% stake in Ssangyong for KRW522.5bn.
