According to report almost six and half years since the bumper XUV 500, a runaway success seems to have eluded Mahindra. Meanwhile it lost its position as India’s largest utility vehicle (UV) manufacturer to Maruti Suzuki, a rival that has traditionally been strong in passenger cars. Accordingly the nimbler Ford, Renault and even Jeep have capitalized on the compact segment against the once poster boy for homegrown SUVs with Ecosport, Duster, S-Cross and Compass.
Meanwhile the cross town rivals Tata Motors too have edged past to reclaim the leadership position in the small commercial vehicle (CV) and pick-up truck segment (up to 3.5 tonne) after a gap of two years, albeit marginally. Further it fast turned into over dependence on legacy products Scorpio, Bolero and XUV.
Moreover the last five years, while automotive business revenues have
grown 12%, Mahindra profits have almost halved to Rs 1,412 crore in FY17, as
against as Rs 2,596 crore at end of FY13. Currently operating margins too have
been under pressure down to 4.41% at end of FY17, from 9.14% for FY13. Earlier
60% of the company’s profits came from the flagship automotive business and
last year (FY17), it’s almost halved to 36% as demand for tractors gains ground.
