Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Wednesday launched the Mahindra Gio, India’s first four-wheel half-a-tonne compact truck. The product is expected to create a new category and is positioned in between three-wheelers and the four-wheeler utility vehicles (UVs) now populating the market.
The Mahindra Gio BS-II (Bharat Stage II) is available at Rs. 1.65 lakh across the country while the BS-III is priced at Rs. 1.68 lakh. It is fitted with a 9.1 hp engine from Kohler of the U.S. and the company claims a mileage of 27 km a litre.
Addressing the media, Rajesh Jejurikar, COO, Automotive Sector, said the product was being launched in the northern, western and eastern markets while it would be launched in the south by January.
The Gio is M&M’s fourth new launch this year. In January, it launched the Xylo, in March the Scorpio — Refresh and in August the Bolero BMI Mini Truck. M&M at present has a 65 per cent market share in the utility vehicle segment and has seen a 33 per cent growth in volumes in the last six months.
Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive Sector, M&M, said, “the Mahindra Gio was made at the company’s plant at Haridwar which also produces three-wheeler CVs. The plant would make 20,000 units annually in the first phase, “but can easily be ramped up to 30,000 units.”
Mr. Goenka said the company spent only Rs. 25 crore on the development of the product. “This is because we were able to draw from the available engineering and tooling basket and the new tooling requirement was low.”
