Demand for Mahindra’s SUV range continues to swell, leaving the Mumbai-based manufacturer with a problem of plenty. It currently holds 2.86 lakh cumulative bookings for its passenger vehicle line-up, which is slightly higher than the number of bookings the company had at the end of the first quarter of FY2024 (2.81 lakh units). While orders for the more accessible Mahindra offerings, such as the XUV300 subcompact SUV and Bolero Neo have slowed, the company has been racking up 51,000 fresh orders every month in the second quarter, driven mainly by the demand for its bigger, more expensive models, with the Scorpio family leading the way.
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Of the 2.86 lakh open bookings with the carmaker, more than 40 per cent – close to 1.20 lakh orders – is constituted by the Scorpio family, which includes the revamped Scorpio Classic, and the new-generation Scorpio N. The Scorpio N is currently witnessing the highest demand of all Mahindra models, amassing well over 10,000 bookings every month, with the Classic also registering healthy numbers. Waiting periods for the Scorpio N currently is a little over 9 months, Mahindra Auto president Veejay Nakra said in response to a query from carandbike.
Mahindra says demand for even the Scorpio Classic continues to be healthy.
It’s the Thar that’s second on the list, with over 76,000 orders yet to be fulfilled, and the off-roader continues to draw over 10,000 bookings every month. Helping maintain demand momentum is the rear-wheel-drive version of the Thar, which is available at a more accessible price point. However, as a result, waiting periods for the Thar currently rise to as high as 16 months.
The XUV700, too, continues to register strong numbers even two years on from its launch, with 70,000 orders in Mahindra’s kitty, and around 9,000 fresh orders for it coming in every month. At present, the company says it has managed to cut down the wait times for the lower variants of the XUV700 (MX, AX3 AX5), but wait periods continue to exceed the one-year mark for the top-of-the-line trims (AX7 and above).
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Those seeking a fully-loaded XUV700 continue to look at a waiting period of more than a year.
“The waiting period has come down somewhat for XUV700 and Scorpio N on some variants. The waiting period on the higher-end versions of especially the XUV700 has not come down as much as we would like. As we are ramping up now to 8,000-9,000 units of Scorpio N and XUV700 and 6,000 units of Thar [every month], we hope to start seeing waiting periods come down. We still don’t feel good about not bringing waiting periods down enough”, Mahindra Auto Executive Director and CEO Rajesh Jejurikar told carandbike during a media interaction.
The XUV300 and XUV400 constitute about 10,000 open bookings (drawing 6,000 fresh orders every month), while the Bolero family makes up 11,000 open bookings (9,000 bookings every month). Mahindra says it is confident of reducing waiting periods significantly closer to the end of this financial year, as it readies to churn out 49,000 units a month by March 2024.
However, given the current backlog, even an increase of 10,000 units in production may not facilitate a meaningful reduction in wait times. This is likely to happen once Mahindra expands its production capacity further, something that is set to happen with the introduction of the five-door Mahindra Thar in 2024. The company plans to ramp up production to well beyond 50,000 units a month to clear pending orders in FY2025.
