Open bookings for Mahindra SUVs at 2.26 lakh in February 2024 reflect robust demand for bestsellers like Scorpio/N, XUV700 and Thar
While Mahindra SUVs have millions of satisfied customers, the high waiting period tests the patience of new buyers. Mahindra is cognizant of the situation and has been taking steps to reduce the order backlog. The efforts are bearing fruit, as a 60k reduction in order backlog has been achieved in a period of just around three months.
Increased production, efficient deliveries
At the start of November 2023, Mahindra’s order book had a total of 2.86 lakh open bookings. Waiting period for popular SUVs such as Scorpio N was more than 12 months at many places. Mahindra has been working on a multi-pronged strategy to reduce order backlog for several months.
One of the focus areas has been to increase production. Deliveries have also been ramped-up. With these efforts, Mahindra open bookings are down to 2.26 lakh units, as of February 01, 2024. A 60k reduction is significant, as customers can expect faster deliveries. It will also help in reducing the number of booking cancellations.
Scorpio / Scorpio N – Highest bookings and backlog
On an average, Mahindra SUV bookings are around 50,000 units per month. With increased production, Mahindra has been able to increase deliveries to around 40k units per month. It has helped reduce the overall order backlog. However, there’s still a significant backlog for popular Mahindra SUVs. The top selling product is Scorpio / Scorpio N, which collectively have 101k open bookings. An average of 16k bookings is received for Scorpio/N every month.
Thar is next, with open bookings at 71k units. Thar receives average bookings of around 7k units per month. While Thar sales were seen to be plateauing at a time, the launch of the RWD variant in January 2023 had provided a new thrust. It continues even today. Thar RWD is also being claimed as one of the reasons why Maruti Jimny hasn’t been able to deliver as per expectations. Thar sales are expected to get another boost when the 5-door version is launched later this year.
Mahindra XUV700 has open bookings of 35k units. The SUV receives an average of 7k bookings every month. In January, Mahindra had introduced the 2024 version of XUV700. It features cosmetic touch-ups, enhanced luxury and new additions to the tech kit. Mahindra has also homologated the new MX Petrol AT base variant.
Bolero, XUV400, XUV300 – Order backlog
Bolero and Bolero Neo have combined open bookings of 10k units. Average bookings are around 11k units per month. For XUV300 and XUV400, the combined order backlog is 8.8k units. Average bookings are around 9k units per month. Mahindra had launched the updated version of XUV400 last month. Later this month, Mahindra is expected to announce the pricing for XUV300 facelift.
Talking about booking cancellations, the number increased to approximately 10 percent during the period from November 2023 to January 2024. Mahindra has attributed this to year-end VIN change. The company has also stated that booking cancellations were reduced to less than 8 percent, as of January 2024.
