M&M heats up premium SUV race with Rexton launch

Mahindra & Mahindra today launched the Rexton, the first high-end SUV under SsangYong banner at a starting price of Rs 17.67 lakh. Ssangyong Rexton will be available only in diesel option.

With the Rexton launch, M&M has joined the likes of Toyota Fortuner, Skoda Yeti, Honda CRV, Hyundai Santa Fe and Ford Endeavour in the premium SUV space.

The new Rexton has two variants RX5 MT ( the manual transmission model priced at Rs 17.67 lakh) and RX7 ( the Automatic transmission model priced at Rs 19.67 lakh).

The Rexton is the first product from the SsangYong product portfolio to be launched in India after Mahindra acquired the Korean company in March 2011. The Rexton will compete directly with the likes of the Toyota Fortuner, the Ford Endeavour, the Chevrolet Captiva, the Mitsubishi Pajero and the Renault Koleos.

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After having its national launch in Mumbai, Rexton launch will be followed in New Delhi and Bangalore & phase wise roll out in other market.

“The launch of the much acclaimed XUV 500 last year helped Mahindra stamp its presence on the segment of premium SUVs. The Rexton will be the first SUV from the SsangYong portfolio brought to the Indian market by Mahindra. With the launch of the SsangYong Rexton, we hope to further expand the Mahindra presence in the high-end SUV segment,” Pawan Goenka , president, automotive and farm equipment, said today.

The all wheel drive Rexton will be powered by a 2.7 litre engine delivering 184 bhp and 402Nm torque in the automatic transmission and 162 bhp and 340Nm torque in the manual version.

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[caption id=“attachment_493727” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The car is the first high-end SUV from the Mumbai-based auto firm Mahindra and Mahindra[/caption]

South Korean carmaker Ssangyong wants to make India its second largest export market, by taking advantage of parent company Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd’s dominance of the country’s booming SUV sector.

India is an untapped market for Ssangyong, which counts Europe and Latin America as its two largest export destinations. The carmaker shipped two-thirds of its production in the last financial year, and is targeting emerging economies such as Russia and South Africa as well as India for its luxury SUVs.

“This is the best possible market for Ssangyong,” said Yoo-Il Lee, Ssangyong’s chief executive officer. “I am very confident that India will become Ssangyong’s second-largest export market,” he added, without providing details. The firm does not give a breakdown of its export markets by sales.

Ssangyong, which launched its first vehicle in the Indian market on Wednesday, will build the Rexton at Mahindra’s factory in Pune, avoiding costly import tariffs.

M&M has invested Rs 63 crore in tuning the Rexton for India. This is the third generation of the SUV, and SsangYong began its sales in Korea in July and exports began last month. Rexton will be available in Mumbai and Delhi for now and it will be launched in 6-7 more cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Pune in a week’s time.

Ssangyong will sell its vehicles alongside Mahindra SUVs in the Indian carmaker’s showrooms, but as the South Korean models are more expensive than the India ones, will not compete against them for market share.

Mahindra dominates India’s increasingly crowded SUV market, where it sold four times as many of the vehicles than its nearest rival, Tata Motors Ltd, in the last fiscal year that ended in March.

Ssangyong is pushing into a sector where global motor firms are busily expanding. Ford Motor CoSaid in January it would spend $142 million upgrading its Indian plant to build the EcoSport SUV, due for launch next year, and Renault SA launched its first India-specific SUV, the Duster, in June.

The South Korean firm, which was close to bankruptcy before Mahindra paid $460 million for a majority stake in March 2011, plans to bring more models to the country over the next few years, chairman Pawan Goenka said.

India’s SUV market is growing rapidly as a result of a slew of new models, rising aspirations and purchasing power among drivers, and generous government subsidies on diesel fuel.

Sales of passenger utility vehicles were 56 percent higher in the first six months of the fiscal year that began in April from a year earlier, while sales of cars were down 0.3 percent, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

With inputs from Reuters