Mahindra's sales drop by over 20% last month, pins recovery hope on XUV700

Mahindra and Mahindra has reported that its passenger vehicle business has seen de-growth in September, mostly due to the supply issue of semiconductors. The carmaker clocked a decline of nearly 22 per cent year-on-year in overall sales, while the passenger vehicle business has seen a decline of around 12 per cent.

Last month, Mahindra sold only 28,112 units, down from a total of 35,920 units it sold during the same month last year. Among them, only 13,134 units of passenger vehicles were sold. In September last year, Mahindra had sold 14,857 units of passenger cars, which include Bolero, Scorpio, XUV500, XUV300, TUV300 among others.

Veejay Nakra, CEO of Automotive Division at the Mahindra and Mahindra said, “The challenges around the supply of semiconductors continues to pose difficulties for the auto industry globally. We have taken several steps to mitigate the effect and are working towards managing the situation as best as possible."

Since September last year, Mahindra has launched at least two SUVs, which include the Thar and the Bolero Neo. Despite initial success, the new SUVs have not been able to increase Mahindra's sales volume last month.

Mahindra is now pinning its hope on the XUV700 SUV, which launched on Thursday. With a starting price of ₹11.99 lakh (ex-showroom), the XUV700 is expected to disrupt the SUV segments, both in compact and three-row category.

The only consolation for Mahindra last month was its exports figures. Mahindra exported 2,529 units last month, up by more than 60 per cent from 1,569 units in September last year.