Mahindra launches new light commercial truck range, eyes larger share in LCV seg

Mahindra group's Truck and Bus Division on Wednesday announced the commercial launch of the all-new New Furio 7 range of light commercial trucks with a price starting at Rs 14.79 lakh.

The company said it expects the new offering will help it garner significant market share in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment, which along with the intermediate commercial segment (ICV) has seen strong revival in the last couple of months.

Mahindra Truck and Bus (MTB) had launched the intermediate commercial vehicle (ICV) brand Furio in 2019.

To be manufactured at the company's Chakan (Pune) facility, the new range of trucks, is part of the Furio Intermediate Light Commercial Vehicle (ILCV) product range development, which is the culmination of focused efforts over the past six years and an investment of Rs 650 crore, according to the company.

"In the last couple of months, we have seen the industry revive, really strongly. We have seen the revival happening across segments—LCV, ICV as well as HCV (heavy commercial vehicle). The bus segment, however, continued to be muted as the people's movement post the second wave is still a challenge," Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M Ltd) Chief Executive Officer for the automotive sector, VeejayNakra told PTI.

He said that industry volumes declined significantly both in the financial year 2019-20 and financial year 2020-21, with over 40 per cent and over 26 per cent de-growth, respectively, owing to multiple factors such as axle loading norms, transition to BSVI from BSIV, and then the pandemic last year.

Barring the bus segment, which remains a little subdued, "we believe that at the end of this year, the LCV and ICV segments will both go back to FY 20 level while the HCV segment, in our view, would definitely be more than last fiscal and higher even than the FY 20 volumes." "We always had a strong market share in the LCV segment, and with this launch, we will be further strengthening it," Nakra said.

The Furio 7 range of LCVs is powered by lightweight, low friction engines - MDi and MDi Tech, with Dual Mode FuelSmart technology.

So far, the company was largely present in the 3.5-6 tons segment and with the launch of Furio 7 it now has a presence in 6-7.5 tons as well, he said, adding that, "with this, the range for LCV products becomes complete for the M&M." The launch of the new Furio 7 range of LCV trucks with an unprecedented customer value proposition of 'more mileage or return the truck and guaranteed resale value after five years, is a landmark in the industry, Nakra said.

The new range will cover every application of business needs in LCV segments, delivering higher profitability along with best-in-class mileage, higher payload, among others,it said.

LCV and ICV are for inter and more importantly intra-city operations and can be deployed in segments such as e-commerce, FMCG, parcel courier, among others, he said.

The government's continued focus on infra spend mining, construction, and tipper, along with core sectors like cement and steel are all helping the HCV segment comeback in a very strong manner, he added.

Mahindra Furio 7 range is designed around the unmet needs of LCV customers. With its unmatched package of customer value propositions and a very competitive initial price offer, the company is confident enough to guarantee higher mileage or give the truck back as well as the guaranteed resale value after five years that makes it a defining moment for the industry'', said Jalaj Gupta, Business Head for commercial vehicles, M&M Ltd.

The Furio 7 range will be available across three product platforms -- 4-tyre cargo, 6-tyre cargo HD, and 6-tyre tipper.

It also comes with advanced telematics technology, Mahindra iMAXX, the company said.

Designed by Pininfarina for Indian road conditions, Furio sets new benchmarks with its world-class design and engineering excellence, with one of the safest, most ergonomic, and comfortable cabins, it added.

The introduction of the Furio range follows MTB's launch of the Blazo X range of heavy commercial vehicles with 'Mileage Guarantee', which subsequently helped Blazo X establish itself as the most fuel-efficient truck in the HCV segment, it said. PTI IAS SHW SHW

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)