Mahindra to rise in Oz

Mahindra's journey from obscurity to relevance has been long and arduous in Australia – and there's still some way to go.

Driven by a global mission statement that is summed up in the tagline 'Rise', Mahindra is committed to becoming more of a player in the local market.

The first step on the next part of the brand's journey in Australia is the introduction of automatic variants of the XUV500 SUV. Our review of the new six-speed Aisin-equipped model will be published tomorrow.

This vehicle, promoted and marketed properly should produce a significant jump in sales, says James Halliwell, local marketing manager for the brand.

"Our history over the last two to three years of selling the old version of XUV or the original version of XUV500 is that, as we expect, 95 per cent of customers want an automatic in an SUV," Halliwell told motoring.com.au in India last week.

That said, Halliwell was reluctant to reveal what sort of sales increase the automatic XUV might bring.

"Certainly internally we have a target that we’d like to reach but it’s not something we want to share," he admitted.

While Mahindra is not volunteering its sales figures for publication in VFACTS, Halliwell does say that the brand will do so once it's selling above 1000 units in the Australian market – a prospect much more likely once the auto XUV500 arrives here in May.

"We certainly hope that we’ll achieve that this year and therefore in the coming year we’ll be part of VFACTS. And, to put that another way again, I understand that over 1000 units per annum would [place Mahindra] in the top 30 ... amongst the top 30 players in Australia."

Climbing the sales ladder won't be simply a matter of bringing in one self-shifting SUV. Mahindra plans to replace its venerable Pikup model with an all-new generation expected here in the second quarter of next year. That particular vehicle will be based on the same chassis as the company's Scorpio SUV, and will share the SUV's frontal styling and cabin layout, but will score a 2.0-litre diesel engine. It's understood the new Pikup will be offered in 4x2 and 4x4 models, both single- and dual cabs.

A serious off-road SUV, the Scorpio itself is not entirely ruled out for Australia, but unlikely at this stage. Its two side-facing seats in the luggage compartment do not comply with Australian Design Rules and it does not come with stability control, which is mandatory on SUVs here.

"They’re minor things and in the future we do hope that that vehicle comes to Australia, but it’s not confirmed at the present moment," Halliwell explained.

The smaller Genio commercial is set to be replaced within two or three years by the new Imperio model, and Mahindra is understood to be evaluating the baroque-looking KUV100 for Australia. This is a small SUV in the mode of a CX-3 or HR-V.

One of the stars of the Delhi motor show, the XUV Aero, is planned to enter production, and Mahindra sees it as an immediate boost for the brand's fortunes if it can comply with ADRs and go on sale in Australia at some point down the track. At the other end of the scale, the importer intends to bring in the Thar – a Jeep CJ look-alike – in limited numbers.

But new product alone won't be enough. The importer is currently engaged in expanding its dealer network, which is currently strong in parts of southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. According to Halliwell the brand is yet to make any sort of inroads in the metropolitan markets of Sydney and Melbourne.

"We have 35 dealers in Australia. We have pockets where we’re very successful. Southeast Queensland certainly is an example of that.

"We’re very strong in Toowoomba and Warwick and Kingaroy. We’ve just opened up with Sharp’s Motor Group out of Tweed Heads into Lismore and Ballina and we really see the Northern Rivers being a very strong place for us because we’re very strong in our tractor business in that area and that’s a more regional focussed area.

"We’ve got [dealer] prospects in Port Macquarie. We’re very strong in the Hunter Valley. And then Sydney is a little bit of a challenge for us, as is Melbourne."

Halliwell says that the distributor has looked as far afield as a prospective dealers in Tasmania and South Australia. There's an element of 'Catch 22' conundrum in this. The dealers are harder to attract while sales are low, and the sales are low without a sufficiently large dealer network. Then there are the other issues that stand in the way of improving sales and an expanded dealer network, such as the sheer lack of brand awareness in this country.

"Because we haven’t had a national brand TV campaign, the attraction to our brand is probably not as strong as it could be," Halliwell said.

"From February 14th, we kick off a national program of awareness and we really see that changing perceptions, not only customers’ perceptions, but also dealers’ perceptions."

Halliwell is confident the dealer network can grow from 35 currently to 40 before the year's end.