M&M, Ssangyong may develop common platforms, products

India's top utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is in talks with its South Korean subsidiary SsangYong for a possible joint development of products and platforms.

"We are working on engines, we have not yet started any platform development, but discussions are going on between the two," Pawan Goenka, president, automotive and farm equipment division, M&M told HT. When asked if there could be crossplatform development in future, he said it could very well be if it makes sense.

While the company won't discuss specifics, market watchers indicate that a jointly developed utility vehicle could be on cards for late-2015 or early-2016 launch.

The two have already been working on a trans-axle, a component used for front-wheel drive transmissions.

M&M's has also planned to launch two compact utility vehicles in 2015 as its existing product in segment, Quanto, got poor response. "Clearly there is a product gap and that is costing us the market share loss. I wish I could launch a product today, but this will happen only when it is ready," Goenka said.