Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd today said it will invest Rs 1,500 crore on a new platform to be developed in collaboration with its Korean SUV maker SsangYong.

“This joint development will be taken up over the next three years. While this investment will be on one platform, we will invest more on joint development on other range,” Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra, said.

Addressing a press conference, Goenka said, “We will launch Rexton, a high-end SUV from the SsangYong stable by Diwali. This will be in a segment that is higher than our successful SUV XUV 500.”

Quanto launch

Goenka was here to launch the latest model Quanto. He said the response for the vehicle was excellent, and over 13,000 enquiries have been received since September 21 and over 1,500 have translated into bookings.

He said there will be no cannibalisation within the group offerings with Quanto as it is seeking to address a different segment.

“We are watching how customers react to this as we see those aspiring for bigger hatches and sedans taking to it,” he explained.

Asked about the possibility of price increase as other manufacturers have either increased or have indicated hikes, Goenka said, “The costs of inputs have gone up and I cannot rule out any price hikes.”

Tractor plant

Goenka said he was pleased to see the progress made at the new manufacturing plant coming up at Zaheerabad in Andhra Pradesh.

“We expect to begin production by end of December-January. Initially, it will have capacity to produce 20,000 tractors of the proposed one lakh capacity,” he explained.

rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in

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