NEW DELHI: Mahindra and Mahindra's (M&M's) utility-vehicles charge hasn’t been powered by the Scorpio alone. According to analysts, the Bolero has been as big a winner in growth terms as the Scorpio (though on a much smaller cumulative base) thanks to its greater market penetration outside of the top 20 cities.
The Bolero - which was launched in the Q2 of 2000-01 with a ramp-up in the first quarter of 2002-03 - has seen a positioning change that saw its footprint outside of the top 20 cities increase from 60% of its sales to 80%. It’s top 20 city footprint, meanwhile, has shrunk from 40% to 20%.
This has helped increase the Bolero family’s share of M&M’s total UV pie from 13% in 2002-03 to 20% in 2003-04. In comparison, the Scorpio’s share of the total M&M pie has grown from 16% to 27%, say analysts. More interestingly, the Bolero and Scorpio’s growth has brought down the company’s dependence on its Maxx platform whose share has dropped from 47% to 39%. In growth terms though, the Bolero has emerged top dog in FY04 though its benchmark cumulative stats are very low compared to the Scorpio.
The Bolero grew 159% from 5,040 units in 2002-03 to 13,052 units in 2003-04, say analysts. The Scorpio grew from 10,849 units to 23,976 units, up 121%. Part of the reason for the Bolero’s top speed growth has been the repositioning it has seen.
M&M is currently working on a three-platform strategy revolving around the Maxx, Bolero and Scorpio brands. Analysts say the success of the Scorpio creates the impression that M&M’s UV business is mostly Scorpio-led, which is not true.
In an earlier interview to ET, M&M vice chairman and MD, Anand Mahindra had also talked about across the segment growth saying: “Of course, Scorpio was Hero No 1 (in 2003-04) but interestingly the stellar performance of all the other products in the line up has tended to get overshadowed by the Scorpio.”
The Boleros repositioning has been backed by new variants for semi urban/rural markets at low price, offering low running cost and stylish looks. The company launched the Bolero DI in Q4 of 2002-03 at Rs 4.25 lakh. The company also launched the Bolero Camper (double cab) in Q1 of 2002-03 and a new Camper is due next month with upgraded interiors and AC for both personal and farm use. M&M launched the Bolero Invader in Q1 of 2003-04 at Rs 3.9-4.2 lakh. |
