Mahindra Pantero, the entry level commuter motorcycle which was launched in 2013 has failed to attract requisite attention of buyers in India. Launched a little before Centuro, Pantero sales were well below expectations. (The same is the case with Centuro, but it’s sales performance was better as compared to Pantero.)
First launched back in January 2013, and priced from Rs 44,190, ex-showroom, Mahindra had huge expectations from the motorcycle. The market did respond well at the start, but that soon changed. By July, Mahindra launched the Centuro, a more feature rich and attractive looking motorcycle.
Mahindra Pantero was powered by the same engine as seen on Centuro. This was a 106.7cc engine offering 8.5 bhp peak power at 7,500 rpm and 8.5 Nm torque at 5,000 rpm mated to a 4 speed gearbox.
Compared to Pantero, Centuro was launched with a lot of fanfare. This, in addition to attractive introductory price of just Rs 44,000; brought all buyers towards towards Centuro. Over the next few months, Mahindra regularly introduced new variants of Centuro, including one with disc brake. Today, there are five variants of Centuro on offer in the market. These are – Centuro NXT, Centuro Disc Brake, Centuro XT, Centuro Rockstar, and Centuro Rockstar Kick Alloy.
After Mahindra launched the new entry level variants of Centuro, sales of Pantero dipped even further. With hardly a few hundred rupees separating the two, the two Mahindra bikes were cannibalising each other. This has pushed the company to take Pantero off the market in India. Pantero will still be produced, for export markets.
Apart from this, production of Mahindra Duro, Flyte and Kine have also been discontinued for failing to cause any impact on sales charts while the company is aggressively focusing on the Centuro range of bikes and Gusto and Rodeo scooters. The company’s ad campaigns also draws emphasis to the car like features being seen on these two wheelers.
Mahindra Two Wheeler market share continues to remain at 1.03 percent even as the company focuses on improving marketing of products and planning new investments to boost market share.
The company now looks forward to the launch of new Mojo, which was first showcased back in 2010, in presence of Aamir Khan.
