Mahindra Navistar rolls out their 100th truck from the MN 25 Series

Just a couple of weeks back, MNAL had rolled out its first MN 25 truck from its Chakan Plant near Pune. In no time has the company announced that the production figure has crossed 100^th mark. MN 25's Bharat Stage (BS) -II model is priced at Rs 14.99 lakh ex-showroom price. BS III version is also readily available while BS IV models will be available as per the customers' requirements.

Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors, M&M Limited said on the occasion, “The investment done for Mahindra Navistar trucks is Rs 1000 crore out of which Rs 350 crore was done for engine manufacturing while the remaining Rs 1300 crore was done on trucks. Work is in an advanced stage on the soon to be launched CNG variant. We have priced our product very aggressively and I think it is marginally higher than its competitors. Currently our installed capacity is 50,000 units for trucks.”

Even though auto sales numbers may be on the rise, the industry is facing a components shortage. Confirming this, Goenka added, "Whole of the auto industry is facing a component supply crunch in mainly three areas, tyres, casting and fuel injection equipment. The demand is soaring but the capacity cannot be increased quickly. Around 5-7 per cent of a decline in output has occurred because of this."

Mahindra Navistar also has plans to export the vehicles to the neighbouring countries, and some other as well, in the near future. According to the joint venture between M&M and Navistar, the trucks are for sale in all parts except North America including South America, Africa, Europe and Non-European countries and even designed for such markets. Mahindra Navistar is also looking forward to start producing left-hand drive trucks to suit the market and has planned to push the exports by the financial year of 2012. 

The other variants from the Mahindra Navistar fold like the MN 31, 40, 49 and Tipper will be launched in this financial year. Mahindra Navistar has already set up a customer-centric network of exclusive dealerships across the country for serving the customers better. Moreover, the already existing network will be deployed for servicing the customer needs. From the already existing network of 50 MNAL dealers which is to be scaled up to 150, 60 additional LCV dealers (light commercial vehicles), along with 400 outlets of RSAs (road side assistance) will be increased to 900 within a year's time. MNAL will also rope in 24x7 multi lingual in-house expertise and a panel of expert drivers, trainers and trouble shooters at our headquarters. 

Mahindra Navistar MN25 Review on CNBC TV 18

Mahindra Navistar Automotives recently unveiled it MN series of trucks at the 10 Auto Expo, held in New Delhi. The trucks that were introduced were the MN25, MN31, MN40, MN49. The first commercial MN 25 rolled out on the 14th June, 2010 from the company’s Chakan Plant, near Pune. The Mahindra-Navistar JV has resulted in the introduction of powerful machines which are designed specifically for the Indian road. They promise to redefine the trucking standard in India. These trucks sport advanced technology, such as the MaxxForce engine, due to the involvement of Navistar, USA , which has 175 years of experience in the trucking business. The MN25 is priced attractively at 14.99 lac (ex-showroom Pune)

CNBC TV 18, one of the most premier news channels of India, will be broadcasting a review of the exciting new MN 25 model. The review includes a standing overview and a test-drive assessment, which will be carried out by CNBC’s journalist at the Chakan Plant. Be sure to tune in to CNBC TV 18 to check out the exciting new features of this powerful truck on Saturday 26^th June at 1pm.

India will develop National Highway linking Bangladesh

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has confirmed that will be building a bridge over the Feni River, in Tripura, which will connect it to Chittagong port in Bangladesh. Earlier this bridge was supposed to be a two lane highway, which now, has affectively been changed to a four lane highway.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) plans to convert the Agartala- Sabroom portion (133 km) of the Assam- Agartala National Highway (NH-44) from the existing double lane to four-lane at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore by 2013. Scot Wilson India Ltd, a NHAI approved consultancy agency, had been asked to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the conversion project.

The distance covered by this highway is being reduced from 133 km to 127 km. This will be achieved by changing the actual alignment for the road in 119 places.  The 630-km long NH-44, is the primary mode of transport in Tripura, Mizoram, southern Assam and eastern Manipur. This highway also connects the Meghalaya capital Shillong, with Sabroom. The NH-44 highway is being converted into four lanes from southern Assam to Agartala.

Chittagong port is an important port for carrying goods and heavy machineries for the land-locked northeastern region of India. Bangladesh has provided permission for the use of Chittagong port to India in the beginning of this year. This new highway will definitely give rise to tourist attractions and may help flourish trade routes between Bangladesh and the North-East. The infrastructure funding for this project is being provided by the Central Government.

High Performance Mahindra Navistar trucks roll out of Chakan Plant

Chakan, Pune, June 14, 2010: After unveiling its entire range of high performance trucks at the Auto Expo 2010 earlier this year, Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd. today announced the start of production and the price of their first truck offering, the MN 25 which is priced at Rs. 14.99 lakhs (ex-showroom Pune).

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said “This is a moment of great pride for us as the very first new product rolls out of our Chakan plant. The Chakan plant is one of the most modern plants in India and is said to create new benchmarks in automotive excellence. This plant will also help drive tremendous synergies for Mahindra Navistar with the upcoming vendor park, the common utilities and reduction in capex. We will soon be launching the rest of our HCV range from here

as well.”


Mr. Rakesh Kalra, Managing Director, Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd., said, “The launch of MN25 truck is a major step in the direction of making us a full range commercial vehicle player and the first step in materializing our vision to become the most trusted CV brand in India.”

Mr. Kalra added, “In line with our philosophy of offering value-for-money proposition to our customers, the MN25 is very competitively priced. The high performance MN25 is one of the most powerful, fuel-efficient, rugged and comfortable 25-tonner to be launched in India. Designed and developed in India with technological assistance of Navistar, who have over 175 years of trucking experience, MN25 comes with a world-class cabin which is spacious and ergonomically designed to suit Indian drivers for continuous long hauls. It’s powered by the world-renowned MAXXFORCE® engine which is highly fuel efficient and powerful. So you see we are offering a fantastic truck at a very attractive price.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Nalin Mehta, Chief Operating Officer, Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd., said “During the unveiling, we had promised that ‘OK will no longer be OK’ and MN25 will revolutionize the trucking industry. In every aspect of the truck, MN25, symbolizes this philosophy and will help our customers outperform and prosper in their businesses and life. Our value-for-money pricing strategy coupled with far superior product performance itself will help the customers to earn higher profits and better return on their investments.”

Mr. Mehta further clarified “Having started the production, we are focused on the sales and service infrastructure and filling the pipelines with our products. We look forward to start of sales in the next 2-3 months.

On the distribution front, Mahindra Navistar is in the process of creating a customer-centric network of exclusive dealerships across the country. Moreover, Mahindra’s already existing network will be deployed for servicing the customer needs.

In 2005, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and International Truck and Engine Corporation - the operating company of Navistar - entered into a JV to manufacture light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles for India as well as global markets. The joint venture is in the process of addressing every segment of the commercial vehicle market from 3.5 tonne GVW to 49 tonne GVW with variants of passenger transport, cargo and specialized load applications. Mahindra Navistar aims to expand its product line over the next two years to emerge as a full range

commercial vehicle player.

The Mahindra Navistar range of medium and heavy commercial vehicles is being manufactured at a new greenfield plant at Chakan, near Pune. The plant, which spans over 700 acres, has been set up with investments of over Rs. 4000 crores and will produce other M&M products as well. This will help MNAL leverage the benefits of synergies of an integrated manufacturing facility.

Extensive Sales & Service Network

Mahindra Navistar has put in place an extensive sales and service network to cater to its customers. Besides this, MNAL will also draw on the vast pool of M&M auto and tractor channel partners to use as an extended network for servicing customers needs. And to top it all, Mahindra Navistar has set up a 24x7, multi-lingual call centre which is manned by trained truck experts to provide on-road support to customers, just in case the need arises.

The company aims to create a channel which will be passionate about surpassing customer expectations and willing to go that extra mile. The dealer network aims to set new benchmarks in delivering requisite services and spares to customers in the HCV segment in India.


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High Performance Mahindra Navistar trucks roll out of Chakan Plant -

Mahindra Samriddhi Centres

In a bid to build its brand in the rural sector, Mahindra & Mahindra has turned all of its dealerships in India into farming advice centres. Known as Mahindra Samriddhi Centres , the dealers will demonstrate and teach a farmer the best farming techniques. This will be done by the dealer by setting up a small farm in his centre. They will also advise the farmers about the various nutrients one should add to the soil & will also conduct tests on soil samples for a fee of rupees fifty.

More than eighty such Samriddhi Centres are already in place & M&M plans to increase it to 250 by the end of next year.


Priya Monga, business head, RC&M Pvt. Ltd said, “Mahindra is the first company to start these rural branding initiatives, It’s highly possible that its competitors would follow suit”
A website has also been launched which gives the farmers information on various topics like fertilizers, mechanization centres, cold storages etc.
Sanjeev Goyale, Senior VP, Marketing said “We are leaders but we also need to be thought leaders in the industry”

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