Company representatives emphasized the importance of the US launch for the global strategy and explained to Reuters that the debut has been delayed a little bit due to efforts to meet local safety and emission regulations.
"The process is taking a bit longer than what we anticipated," Pawan Goenka, president and member of the management board, said in an interview. "Since our long-term aspiration is to be known as the premier SUV and pickup manufacturer in the world, it is but natural that we must sell and be successful in the U.S.," he said. "Without that we cannot call ourselves a premier player in that segment."
Mahindra is going to step into a crowded market in the United States and, although it will be a new player on the market, it will challenge local leaders Ford and Toyota. The Indian pickup will thus compete with the 2010 Ford Range and Toyota's Tacoma, but even so, the parent manufacturer has high expectations.
"Once the U.S. sales also start we will be able to achieve that ultimate objective of having 20 percent of our volumes coming from exports," Goenka explained.
Mahindra is also preparing a new SUV that will be sold globally, while the Xylo will arrive in Europe later this year or in early 2011.
"In the short-term that will become our high-volume export product," he said. "Beyond that we are sure the new SUV, we plan to launch will do well in many developed markets because that is designed with exports in mind."
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