Mahindra conducted a regional launch of the Quanto in Chennai where Indian Autos Blog got a chance to interact in detail with M&M’s Mr. Vivek Nayer, Chief marketing officer of the automotive division.
In his presentation, Mr. Nayer introduced his typical target customers Rohan and Nandini who are married for three years and have an active, sporty lifestyle.
Mahindra says Nandini wants a small but comfortable car to tackle the city traffic, where as her spouse has a big SUV in mind which commands high respect on the roads and during weekend outings.
Mahindra believes this very conflict of preference within their target group of customers can be tapped by the Quanto, which is small enough for city commute and also has SUV traits that make it a weekend vehicle. Hence the brand positioning that says people can ‘live the weekend life’ with the Quanto.
According to Mahindra, the Quanto is the first sub-four metre body on frame vehicle in India and is also the world’s first sub-four metre seven seater. The company says the choice of using the rear jump seats to accommodate people or folding it to carry luggage is up to the individual customers’ needs.
The Quanto’s main rivals are going to be the Maruti Ertiga, Renault Duster and the Swift Dzire. Mahindra ensured that Quanto’s pricing undercuts Ertiga and Duster and is not far away from the Dzire.
Mahindra has invested only about 100 crores for Quanto’s platform which it shares with the Xylo. So, the Quanto will be built in the same assembly line as the Xylo and the current combined capacity of this flexible line stands at 7,000 unit which can be split between Xylo and Quanto based on their demands.
Mr. Nayer also told IAB that the Ssangyong Rexton will be launched in under two months and will be positioned above the XUV 500. The Verito sub-four meter sedan (rendered by our in-house artist, on the left), which is another important product for Mahindra, will be ready by April 2013, however he didn’t add any further details about the car.
According to the statistics, the SUV market in India is growing at 57% YTD while other segments remain almost flat and the Quanto is banking on this fact to spoil the party of hatchbacks and sedans whose combined sales per month is roughly around 50,000 units (30,000 Hatchbacks & 20,000 sedans).
Mahindra Quanto prices, ex-showroom Chennai
- C2 – Rs. 6.12 lakhs
- C4 – Rs. 6.67 lakhs
- C6 – Rs. 7.19 lakhs
- C8 – Rs. 7.72 lakhs
Mr. Nayer added that the waiting period for the XUV 500 had been brought down under three months.
