New-Gen Mahindra Thar has been one of the most successful launches of 2020 in India. First unveiled on August 15, 2020, its launch took place on the 2nd of October 2020. Since the introduction, it has received an overwhelming response from the Indian buyers. The SUV received 15,000 plus booking orders in just 18 days within launch and crossed the 20,000 mark in the domestic market in just the month October. By February 2021, the off roader had crossed the 38,000-booking mark. It illustrates the ever-increasing popularity of Mahindra Thar in the country. With a huge booking number, Indian buyers are staring at a waiting period ranging up to 10 months in some cities. Earlier in November 2020, the Indian automaker had initiated steps to ramp up production from 2,000 units a month to 3,000 in January 2021. This was done to reduce the order backlog as the brand was able to deliver 2569 units November itself.
The automaker failed to gauge the increasing booking pattern in January 2021 where over 6000 booking requests were received for the vehicle. Out of the new booking figure, 45 percent demand is for the automatic variants while 25 percent of customers showed a preference for the petrol powertrain. With the rise in demand, the automaker is increasing production at its manufacturing facility. This was confirmed at a virtual press conference by Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, M&M. He was quoted as saying “We are prioritising production as per the current demand situation. So, while the Thar clearly is the topmost on the list, it is followed by the XUV300, Bolero and Scorpio.”
Mahindra is not the only automaker struggling to cope up with supply and demand mismatch. Nissan, Kia Motors, and Hyundai are the other automobile brands struggling to deliver vehicles on time to the buyers. This is happening primarily due to the shortage of semiconductor chips. Also, the lack of supply of critical input materials like steel has also contributed to the delay in vehicle production. Till the time the chip shortage issue is resolved, the waiting period will not see a substantial decrease for various automakers in India as well as globally.
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