M&M plans to build assembly plant in Southeast Asia

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India’s largest utility vehicle manufacturer, plans to set up an assembly plant in Southeast Asia, which will cater to the entire Southeast Asian region. “We are currently in discussions with various parties and evaluating various possibilities for setting up base with appropriate business models,” Pravin Shah, chief executive – international operations, automotive & farm equipment sectors, told Economic Times. Currently, M&M exports vehicles to Malaysia and aims to expand to other markets in the region. The market size for utility vehicles and pick-ups in key ASEAN markets is more than 700,000 units per annum and for tractors it is more than 55,000 units. Over the next four to five years, M&M sees at least 15-20% of its total export volumes coming from this region. The company, which has ambitions to become a global player, aims to double overseas revenues to more than US$1 billion by 2013 and looks to double volumes to 100,000 units. In the year ended March 2011, M&M exported 17,000 units of utility vehicles and pick-ups and around 11,000 tractors. The company has an automotive assembly plant in Brazil and Egypt. (December 12, 2011)