Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra today said it will start export of its sports utility vehicle XUV500 to Latin America by September this year, besides expanding its base in Africa.
The company has also ramped up production capacities of XUV500, compact SUV Quanto and its subsidiary SsangYong's Rexton from this month to reduce waiting periods.
"We have started exporting of XUV500 to Europe from last month. We are in the process of expanding the global presence of the vehicle and will start exports to Latin America during the first half of next fiscal," Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Pravin Shah told PTI.
Besides, the company will also expand its reach to other African countries apart from South Africa, where it currently sells XUV500, he added.
"To meet domestic demand and expand our exports, we are increasing the monthly production capacity of XUV500 to 5,000 units from this month," Mr Shah said.
The company has been gradually ramping up the capacity of XUV500, which at present has a waiting period of 2-6 weeks, from around 4,000 units since June last year.
Talking about Quanto, Mr Shah said the capacity of the vehicle has been increased to 3,500 units per month from around 3,000 units last month.
"Quanto's waiting period is 3-6 weeks and with increase in output, we will be able to reduce this," he added. Besides, M&M is also ramping up the monthly output of its subsidiary SsangYong's SUV Rexton to 500 units in a single shift from less than 300 units in December 2012," Mr Shah said.
"The waiting period for Rexton is 2-4 months. The vehicle is assembled here. While some parts are locally sourced, some components are imported from Korea. Because of this, we have not been able to increase the capacity rapidly," he added.
Rexton has over 1,500 bookings across nine cities in India and is being launched in more cities from this month.
In December 2012, M&M's total sales of passenger vehicles including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero, Quanto and Verito, stood at 22,761 units as against 19,341 units in December 2011, translating into a 17.68 per cent increase.
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