M and M opens to more acquisitions

Hyderabad, Nov 20 (IANS)

Mahindra and Mahindra, India's largest sports utility vehicles maker, Tuesday said it is open to more acquisitions.

Talking to reporters at the launching of SsangYong Rexton here, Pravin Shah, chief executive of the automotive division of M and M, said the company would look for acquisition as and when the opportunities arise.

He declined to comment on the reports that M and M is looking to buy Aston Martin, the legendary British marquee which features in James Bond movies.

Besides M and M, Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, along with Chinese car makers are said to be eyeing the British sports car maker.

In 2010, M and M had acquired South Korean SUV maker Ssangyong for USD 368 million.

He said the deal proved to be very good. "We expect its turnaround much before what we had initially planned," he said.

Shah unveiled SsangYong Rexton, a luxurious and premium global SUV for Hyderabad market. Designed and developed by SsangYong, the third generation Rexton is most suitable for the Indian customer.

The SsangYong Rexton is assembled and manufactured at Mahindra's Chakan Plant near Pune by sourcing components from Korea and India.

"The Rexton, which is sold in 70 countries, is going to address the high end of SUV in India. This segment is growing. Last year this segment was 30,000 in numbers. It has doubled in two years and we expect it to grow further," he said.

"With Rexton added to our product portfolio, we have the product offering right from Bolero, Xylo, Scorpio, XUV 500 to this top end of the product. We are hopeful there will good demand for the product," he added.

With 50 percent market share in SUV segment, M and M has annual manufacturing capacity of more than 5000 vehicles in a single shift.

"We can double production by adding one more shift but all will depend on demand," said Shah.

--IANS

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