Thar, Scorpio, XUV 7XO may get costlier as Mahindra weighs another SUV price hike

The latest market report highlights that Mahindra & Mahindra is considering another price gain across its SUV portfolio amid recent rises in commodity prices, with a decision anticipated in the next couple of weeks, Automotive President and CEO Nalinikanth Gollagunta stated in an interview with PTI.

Gollagunta stated the firm has already taken three price increases this year — in January, April and July, with the July gain being around 2.7 per cent on SUVs.

"We're watching it very closely. As you know, we've already taken three increases — one in January, one in April, and a fairly significant one in July, around 2.7 per cent on SUVs. That stated, it's something that can be very dynamic, so we keep watch it," he stated, as quoted by PTI.

Elaborating further, Gollagunta stated, "We'll probably take a call in the next couple of weeks on whether we need a price gain… I can't say we will or we won't, but it's something we're looking at closely, given the recent price increases on commodities," he stated.

He stated recent price increases across the auto industry have not affected customer inquiries or bookings, with vehicles still priced below pre-GST marks.

"No, primarily for a couple of reasons — we're still well below pre-GST prices, so demand keeps be quite intact and robust at this point," Gollagunta stated, as quoted by PTI.

On the festive season, he stated demand should be firm for Mahindra as well as across the industry, helped by prices remaining below pre-GST marks and a refreshed product portfolio.

"Festive should be very good for us, and across the industry, for a couple of reasons. We've had inflationary pressures, but the reality is the GST price cuts from last year are holding us all well below pre-GST prices, even with the inflationary price increases we've made during the past year or so," he stated, as quoted by PTI.

On hybrid technology, Gollagunta stated Mahindra stays focused on electric vehicles and would adapt if the regulatory environment changes.

"We're very clear in our minds — EV is the end state the country is heading towards, and that's additionally what the government has made clear to the industry. If you look at the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) norms, there's a very clear differentiation between the benefits given to an EV versus a hybrid. So our focus is on EVs to that extent. If the regulatory environment changes, we have the ability to adapt, but at this point our focus is primarily on EVs," he stated to PTI.

On capacity, Gollagunta stated Mahindra at present has around 60,000 units of monthly ICE (internal combustion engine) capacity and around 8,000 units of EV capacity, and is largely delivering to those marks.

"The next set of capacity increases will happen at the end of March, early April — the 60,000 ICE capacity will go to 70,000, and the EV capacity of 8,000 will go to 12,000. So, where we are now, we're at 68,000, and we'll go to 84,000 in around six months," he stated.

Gollagunta additionally stated the firm has several product refreshes and two major launches lined up over the next two quarters.

"We'll have a set of refreshes coming — some of this we've already talked around. We have around 5 (product) refreshes; a few have already happened, and two or three more are coming up. Other than that, we have two major launches coming within the next couple of quarters — that's additionally why we've further noted the capacity. We'll have one major launch on the ICE side and one major launch on the EV side, both happening within the next two quarters," he stated to PTI.