Tractor major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will roll out five new variants and one brand new tractor in 2013-14. Addressing a press conference, Rajesh Jejurikar, Chief Executive, Tractor & Farm Mechanization, M&M, said M&M would launch its new platform, the M-Star, in early 2014 from its Nagpur facility.
M&M’s tractor portfolio straddles the 15-75 HP (horsepower) range. It will be launching five variants in the 30-50 HP range this year.
The M-Star is a 50-plus HP platform. Mr. Jejurikar said the investment for any new platform was in the region of Rs. 350 crore. M&M hopes to leverage “what will be a move towards higher HP in India.”
“Some of the variants from the new platform could be exported,” he said.
May tractor sales up
Meanwhile, the company, on Monday, reported a 24 per cent rise in tractor sales in May, 2013 at 23,626 units and a cumulative sales rise of 31 per cent in April-May 2013 at 46,828 units. May’s domestic sales rose 25 per cent to 22,471 units while exports were up 16 per cent at 1,155 units. Mr. Jejurikar attributed the growth in sales to the higher minimum selling price (MSP) on wheat as a key driver and higher prices for soya in Madhya Pradesh as another factor.
He expected the industry to grow at 6-8 per cent this year, “depending on the monsoon.” In 2012-13, M&M had a market share of 39.7 per cent. In end-April 2013, this rose to 40.3 per cent.
