Mahindra Two-wheelers may be the newest mass market player in the 2-wheeler segment at this point, but it does have some aggressive plans to expand into different spheres. After targeting the market leader Activa with the Gusto, they are planning to eye the 150cc segment, which doesn’t have a single scooter at this point.
The bold and interesting move by the Mahindra Group to enter the two-wheeler market has not been a walk down the park so far. Apart from the reminiscent product portfolio of the Kinetic era, the company has little else to boast as its own. The Mojo which was first showcased 5 years back is yet to hit the markets. Centuro with its flashy features list may have kept the cash registers ticking but they are yet to introduce any ground breaking product which would act as a brand builder for the company! However, they are improving…and at a fast pace!
A report on Hindu Business Line caught our attention which says that the company is planning to expand into different segments and for this they have their research and development team looking into possibilities. The report quotes Mahindra Two Wheeler’s Vice President, Sales & Customer Care, Mr Dharmendra Mishra, who reveals that there is a 150cc scooter in the making, without talking any further on it!
The 150cc scooter segment in India has been largely untapped. Kinetic did try to exploit it with the muscular 165cc Blaze but failed due to reliability and service issues. Hero MotoCorp did showcase a 150cc automatic scooter Zir during the Auto Expo but that’s all we know about it at this point!
The scooter market leader in India, Honda, must also be readying something and will talk about it at an appropriate time. So, it seems in some time we may get back to the long gone 150cc scooters era which had players like Eterno and a lot of Bajaj’s models (LML is too small to talk about).
While motorcycles are growing in single digits, scooters are registering double digit growth figures and we may see a lot of new scooters and sub-segments being created with time. So, Mahindra don’t follow anyone! Launch a 150cc scooter and take the first mover advantage which you missed with the Mojo!
