Changing gear

Calcutta, May 26: Mahindra & Mahindra is planning to drive in the hatchback version of the Verito in September.

The $14.4-billion company is looking to sell 3,000 units per month of the Verito hatch. It is also slated to launch the mini-Xylo this fiscal, said Arun Malhotra, senior vice-president, sales and customer care.

“We had launched the Verito in 2007 in collaboration with Renault, which had a 41 per cent stake in the joint venture. In 2009, Mahindra bought over Renault’s stake fully. At that time, the vehicle was selling only 350 units a month. We turned that around to sell 5,300 vehicles a month in 2009-10 and by 2010-11, sales climbed to 10,100 units, marking a growth of 86 per cent. In 2011-12, we sold 17,980 Veritos,” Malhotra said.

“We have plans for Verito. We will launch a hatchback version of the car four months from now,” he said.

Mahindra sold 4,40,000 units (passenger and commercial vehicles) in 2011-12, posting an overall growth of 27 per cent. In April 2012, its domestic sales totalled 39,299, a growth of 29 per cent over 30,349 units sold in April 2011.

Malhotra said the company’s Nasik plant would continue to manufacture all variants of the Verito, including the upcoming hatchback.

He, however, ruled out Mahindra’s entry into the sub-compact segment. “We are known to be commercial vehicles and SUV-makers. We do not have the expertise or the technology for sub-compact vehicles,” he added.