Mahindra Thar bookings are higher than expected, resulting in huge waiting period
One of the most awaited SUVs in India, the 2020 new gen Mahindra Thar was officially launched on 2nd Oct. Priced from Rs 9.8 lakhs, it is offered in petrol as well as diesel engine options. Bigger, more powerful and luxurious than the older Thar, the SUV has met with a resounding success, as far as booking numbers are concerned.
Mahindra Thar bookings crossed 20,000 mark by the end of Oct 2020, just a day before the first Thar was delivered to owner. Slowly, more customers are getting their Thar SUVs delivery. Earlier this week, 500 new Thar’s were delivered to customers across India.
Mahindra Thar Waiting Period Increases
But for most customers, the wait is going to be longer than expected, as Mahindra had not prepared for such a massive response. Waiting period are continuously increasing. In some cases, waiting period has touched 8 months. Many customers of 2020 Mahindra Thar are getting an updated delivery date, which is weeks, if not months, later than the original delivery date communicated by their dealer at the time of booking.
This has left many customers with unhappy, especially those whose waiting periods have been extended after promising an earlier deliver. In order to explain the situation better, and to show their gratitude, Mahindra is now sending a box of chocolates to their Thar customers.
Adityendra Solanki is one such customer who has received this box of chocolate. Adityendra has stated that he had booked the new Thar on the first day, immediately after the bookings opened, at around 12-50 PM. His update stated, “A good gesture from Mahindra. I received the package this morning. I appreciate it and I am thankful but I still wont support them how they keep delaying my and many others deliveries.” Another customer who has shared a similar update is Shan Ummar; who had booked the new Thar on 5th October.
This is not the first time a manufacturer has shown gratitude to their customers for high waiting periods. Just recently, MG Motor India had to go through a similar situation last year, when the launched the Hector SUV in June 2019. As a show of gratitude, MG was giving each customer 1,000 points per week of waiting period. These points can then be redeemed against official accessories at dealerships. MG was also donating to girl child education in the name of their customers for every week of waiting period.
Production Increase
For this month, production of the new Mahindra Thar is set to 2,000 units. Same for next month too. From Jan 2021, production will be increased to 3,000 units. This will hopefully halt the increase in waiting period for those who are planning to book the Thar now. In related news, Mahindra has stopped accepting bookings for the base AX variant – this means that the most affordable Mahindra Thar you can buy, is no longer Rs 9.8 lakhs, but Rs 11.9 lakhs.
With the Thar unveiled back on 15th August officially, some customers wonder why the production was not started back then. Even in October, their sales data shows that not a single unit of Thar was dispatched from plant. When in fact multiple units were delivered to dealers in October for display as well as test drives. Hopefully Mahindra will include October sales / dispatch numbers in their report this month; along with November numbers.
