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Follow UsMahindra cleverly positioned the Scorpio as a premium urban car rather than a rugged SUV
Mahindra cleverly positioned the Scorpio as a premium urban car rather than a rugged SUV.
Mahindra Scorpio revolutionized the way Indians looked at sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Prior to its launch, it was a given that SUVs were meant to be nothing but sturdy vehicles. The sleek, classy and powerful look of the car gave way for a new definition of SUV.
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Scorpio has seen several evolutions since its launch in 2002. The first model was designed in collaboration with AVL, Austria. Subsequent modifications have been made every year. A Scorpio 'Refresh' with a new exterior and interior look and feel as well as loads of new features, emerged in 2006 and again in March 2009.
At the time of launch, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) intended to introduce the vehicle in a fully-loaded version, priced in the range of Rs 5-7 lakh. The SUV was launched with a high-powered turbo diesel engine, developed in-house. Scorpio entered the market at a time when it was crowded with many other utility vehicles like the Sumo and the Safari from Tata Motors, and the Qualis from Toyota.
M&M, today, has a global footprint - it is present in South Asia, West Asia, Europe (where it is known as Mahindra Goa), Africa and South America. In 2008, the Scorpio was launched in Australia, Turkey and Ghana. Earlier this month, Mahindra set up a unit in Egypt, marking the commencement of the Scorpio's first assembly operations outside India.
The leading premium SUV in the country, Scorpio owned a 31 per cent share of the SUV and MPV (multi purpose vehicle) market at the end of the last fiscal year. Other brands in the category included Tata Safari (14 per cent), Innova (41 per cent) and Chevrolet Tavera (14 per cent).
The last two are in the MPV segment (as is M&M's latest launch, the Xylo). In 2008-09, the brand sold 29,995 units while this year, it has already sold 14,579 Scorpios between April and August 2009.
