M&M to invest 700 cr in truck and bus business

MUMBAI: Utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will invest ` 700 crore in its truck and bus business as it aims to become a full-range commercial vehicle player in the next two years.

As part of the plan, the company will invest the funds to develop new intermediate commercial vehicles (ICV) and light commercial vehicles (LCV). With the development of new models, M&M will have a portfolio of CVs right from 3.5 tonnes light trucks to 49 tonnes heavy duty trucks in two years, it said. M&M’s investment push in the CV business comes at a time the medium and heavy commercial vehicle market has seen a pickup in demand over last several months, although small CV sales remain in the slow lane. “At Mahindra we are steadily growing and are fully committed to our CV business and taking aggressive steps to become a complete CV range player,” said Rajan Wadhera, president and chief

APART FROM INVESTING IN NEW PRODUCTS, M&M ALSO PLANS TO EXPAND ITS DEALERSHIP AND SERVICE CENTRE NETWORK

executive – truck and power train, M&M.

The company had entered the CV business in partnership with US-based Navistar in 2010. But Mahindra ended up buying Navistar’s stake in 2013 and took full control of the company after the later decided to focus on its own business back in the US. Initially a subsidiary, M&M merged the truck and bus business with itself in 201314. Despite being in the business over the last five years, the company still remains a small player in the segment. In the April-June quarter, M&M’s MHCV sales rose 32% to 1,007 units. In comparison, market leader Tata Motors sold 32,417 in the same period.