M&M to ramp up SUV capacity by 30% to 7.7 lakh units in current FY

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd’s SUV production capacity is likely to rise by 30% this year as the automaker prepares for the launch of a series of new models on the EV side and continues to invest heavily in capacity expansion on the ICE side.

The Mumbai-based company can currently manufacture 588,000 cars per annum (49,000 units per month). By the end of the financial year 2025 (March 2025), this will rise to 768,000 units (64,000 units per month), according to a presentation made for an investor meeting. In FY24, the automaker sold 459,900 SUVs. 

Of the additional annual capacity of 180,000 units coming up this financial year, 120,000 units addition will happen on the electric vehicle side. The remaining will be in the form of extra capacity for the 5-door-Thar and XUV3XO/4OO.

The capacity will be further expanded to 864,000 units per year (72,000 units per month) by March 2026. This expansion of 96,000 units will be fully for electric vehicles.

Mahindra & Mahindra is sitting on lakhs of orders, with waiting periods of some of its models stretching into months. As a result, the company expects to outperform the market in terms of growth this year.

Against the low-single digit growth expected for the market this year, the SUV player has guided growth in the mid-to-high teens. M&M has been outperforming the passenger vehicle market growth for the past couple of years with its strong portfolio of SUVs.

The automaker recently launched a facelift of its compact SUV, XUV300, as XUV 3XO, which has received healthy bookings, enabling it to grab a larger share of the compact SUV market.

On the electric side, the homegrown SUV maker has only one offering at present – XUV400 electric. However, it has very aggressive plans in this area, and has lined up seven electric vehicles to be launched by 2030 under its ‘Born EV’ line-up. This will likely include electric versions of XUV, Thar, Scorpio and Bolero.

On the ICE side, the automaker is expected to launch a five-door version of Thar in a few months. The company had a pending booking of around 220,000 SUVs last month. M&M is looking to develop a portfolio of nine ICE SUVs by the end of the decade, which includes six new models and three upgrades.

M&M recently said it plans to invest over Rs 27,000 crore in the automotive business over three years as it plans for new model launches and capacity expansion.  The additional capital expenditure and capacity addition come as the company looks to continue to outpace the market growth and prepares for electric vehicle adoption in the country.