“We are creating an additional 4,000 capacity per month for the five-door Thar over and above the total capacity that we have planned…,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director & CEO (Auto and Farm Sector), M&M Ltd.
According to a presentation, M&M has planned a total manufacturing capacity of 64,000 units per month for the current fiscal and 72,000 units for the next financial year.
The FY25 exit capacity, according to the presentation, includes an increase of 5,000 units in SUV capacity (THAR 5D, XUV3XO/4OO) and 10,000 units per month capacity for electric vehicles.
The company also said it will have an additional 8,000 units capacity per month for EVs in the next fiscal.
During the April-June quarter, the total volume stood at 2.12 lakh, of which UV (utility vehicle) portfolio accounted for 1.24 lakh units.
According to the company, the total open booking stood at 1.78 lakh units as on July 1, including 55,000 for XUV3XO, 42,000 for Thar (including rear wheel drive or RWD), 13,000 for XUV700, 8,000 for Bolero and 58,000 for Scorpio-N.
The company said it has seen 10 per cent cancellation per month in the bookings as well.
Jejurikar said that on average, Thar along with XUV300 had a waiting period of about 8-10 weeks.
He also said that the price cut undertaken by the company would not significantly impact its financial going forward, adding, “we expect volumes to grow, which will get us operating leverage.”