Mahindra Scorpio reclaims top spot in India SUV market

Mahindra & Mahindra with is bestselling sports utility vehicle has regained the top position in the Indian SUV market for the full fiscal year 2013-14. Scorpio beat its rivals like Ford Ecosport and Renault Duster.

Mahindra & Mahindra Scorpio’s sale stood at 50,900 units for fiscal year 2014,which is more than French carmaker’s, Duster sales reported at 46,700 units while Ford’s Ecosport sales recorded at 45,000 units. M&M also attain the highest ever monthly sales of Scorpio for the month of March 2014 at 5,605 units during the festive season of Gudi Padva in Maharashtra and Navratras in the North, with this the sales also increased due to political parties preference ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Mr. Pravin Shah chief executive, Automotive, M&M said "We have posted highest-ever sales of Scorpio and Bolero in March and these are not merely strong dispatch numbers; they are backed by strong retail buying. We operate on a pull basis and not push basis,"

During the financial year 2013 when the (UV) segment was one of the fastest growing in Indian passenger vehicle market, growing over by half a million units, due to constant rise in diesel prices the segment has been struggling since the beginning of FY14. The UV segment for the period of April and February of FY14 has seen a decline of 5% year on year. Within the tough environment, it has been a close race among Scorpio and Duster. Whereas the Scorpio left the Duster in FY14, Renault’s SUV has captured the full calendar year in 2013. Renault’s Duster sales stood at 51,400 units in 2013 against M&M Scorpio at 49,500 units.

Sumit Sawhney, MD of Renault India, reported, "Even when the Duster was ahead of the Scorpio in 2013, we had maintained that these are like apples and oranges, and shouldn't be compared. Both are different products catering to different segments. We think the Duster volumes are holding up well and are increasingly gaining acceptability in the Indian market.”

However,Mahindra Scorpio has the strong hold and acceptability in rural areas along with the deeper network with over 400-500 sales points.