Scorpio-N, XUV700 boost Mahindra's profit despite nearly 3 lakh pending bookings
Mahindra and Mahindra has clocked a significant jump in profit in the second quarter between July and September. The carmaker reported 67 increase in second-quarter profits, mostly due to demands for its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) which include the likes of Scorpio-N, XUV700, Thar and XUV300. The carmaker's Q2 results show profit of ₹3,452 crore after tax, up from ₹2,068 crore recorded in the same quarter previous year.
Mahindra and Mahindra said that demands for its SUVs remain strong even during the festive season from October through November. This factor, along with improving situation on chip shortage crisis, have helped the carmaker to increase its production as well as sales during this period which clocked revenue of ₹2,431 crore. Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director and CEO (Auto and Farm Sector) at Mahindra and Mahindra, said, "We have maintained our SUV revenue market share at 19.9 per cent while further improving our auto standalone PBIT margins."
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Profit despite huge backlog
Despite strong demands and increase in production capacity, Mahindra still has a huge backlog of pending bookings for its SUVs. As on November 1, the carmaker is yet to dispatch 2.86 lakh SUVs which have been booked by customers. Some of the SUVs, like Scorpio-N and XUV700, still have waiting period stretching up to a year depending on variants.
Mahindra recently revealed details on pending bookings its has. Among the SUVs, Mahindra Scorpio Classic and Scorpio-N have collectively over 1.17 lakh pending bookings. Mahindra manufactures about 14,000 units of these SUVs every month. XUV700, the flagship SUV from the carmaker, has over 77,000 open bookings with about 8,000 units new bookings coming in every month. Thar is the third-highest SUV in demand from the automaker with over 68,000 open bookings. The RWD variant of the SUV has stronger demand with a waiting period of about 15 months.
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To address long waiting periods, Mahindra has expanded its production capacity to 39,000 units per month. The carmaker plans to increase its production to 49,000 units by Q4 FY2024. Increase in production capacity is key to Mahindra now more than ever as the carmaker is planning to introduce new models like Bolero Neo Plus, XUV300 facelift, Thar 5-door SUV as well as upcoming electric SUVs in coming years.
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