Mahindra has kick-started its 18th birthday in South Africa in true style – shooting past the important 1 000-unit milestone in January.
According to the automotive industry business council (Naamsa), Mahindra hit a new all-time best sales figure of 1 010. This is a massive 77% improvement over the same month in 2021 and comes despite severe stock shortages and other COVID-19-related disruptions.
The proudly South African Mahindra Pik Up range remains the jewel in the crown, with sales of 618 units in January. This means that the Pik Up retains its position as one of South Africa’s three fastest growing bakkie models.
In its range of SUVs, the KUV100 NXT and Scorpio both outperformed expectations. The former found favour with budget conscious buyers looking for a frugal and highly capable compact SUV and the latter’s Adventure model proved very popular among South African families.
“The new sales record is testament to the hard work of our team at Mahindra South Africa and each of our 72 dealers.
“The past two years have been tough, and we often faced delays in vehicle shipments from our global plants as well as other disruptions, such as the disturbances in KwaZulu-Natal where our plant is based. Despite this, our dealer network and team kept morale and momentum high and it has borne fruit,” says Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.
Mahindra first entered the South African market in 2004 with the commitment that it would make South Africa its second home, outside of India. It has since invested steadily in its dealer health and customer service to make sure that its growth was matched by its service and support capacity.
In the past four years, this growth was accelerated with several large investments, including an assembly facility in Durban, a new parts distribution warehouse in Gauteng, a new, larger and more modern training facility for technical and sales staff and a specialised vehicle fitment centre.
At the same time, Mahindra supported its dealer network with a comprehensive modernisation programme that has seen many dealers move to larger and more modern facilities and grow their floorspace and staff complement.
The new sales record also creates a positive environment for what promises to be a very busy year for Mahindra. This has already started with runaway sales of special edition models such as the Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Dusk and the new Pik Up S6 Double Cab Automatic.
Globally, the group has seen incredible success following the best-ever five-star GNCAP crash test rating of its XUV300 and the launch of next-generation products such as the new XUV700. This model is scheduled for its South African debut in 2022 and it will be followed by more models and vehicle upgrades.
“We have a very ambitious target for the new year, and set very high standards for our customer service team and our dealers. Like before, we will make sure our customer service and dealer capacity grow in step with our sales, and we trust that this will continue to win us many more fans,” says Rajesh.
