In a surprising announcement, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has revealed that they will not launch any new car after the XUV700, which is scheduled for launch later this year. The Indian utility vehicle maker has revealed that they will not launch new cars till April 2020, which is when the BS6 emission norms come into effect in India.
Mahindra will have to take some tough decisions since upgrading to BS-VI is costly, especially in case of diesel vehicles. Most top-of-the-line models such as Scorpio, Bolero and XUV500 are diesel models, and it will take considerable investment to make them BS-VI compliant. Some models may have to be phased out completely and replaced with new models that are BS-VI compliant.
Many automakers have stopped producing specific models due to BS-VI norms. In case of Mahindra, production has been stopped for Quanto and a decision is awaited for Xylo. The auto manufacturer will consider upgrade options only for its top-selling models.
However, before taking a break, it will be business as usual. Mahindra has announced 3 new vehicles will be launched by end of this fiscal year. On 3rd September, Marazzo will be launched, which is a multi-people carrier with a 7/8 seating option. Around Diwali, Mahindra will launch a compact sports utility vehicle. An upgraded version of SsangYong Rexton will be launched after Diwali, this will be the new Mahindra XUV700.
Speaking about Mahindra’s plans for next two years, after the launch of these three new cars, there will be no new car launches from the company. There might be updates of current models, but no new cars till April 2020. New car launches will resume after April 2020.
This means all new generation cars of Mahindra will be launched post 2020. This includes new gen Scorpio, Bolero, XUV500, etc. All these new SUVs from Mahindra will be based on a new platform and will be powered by a new range of petrol and diesel engines.
