Mahindra expects to woo urban car buyers with the new Scorpio-N

With the launch of the Scorpio-N, a new-gen avatar of its iconic SUV (sports utility vehicle), homegrown auto major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) wants to target the upwardly mobile urban markets while retaining the previous-generation Scorpio Classic for rural and semi-rural markets. The company stressed that the two are very different product portfolios meant for different segmentations. Scorpio-N was launched at an introductory price of Rs 11.99 lakh for the lower-end Z2 variant while the top-end Z8L is available at Rs 19.49 lakh for first 25,000 buyers. 

"Metro buyers are not buying it today because we've not evolved the product enough to meet the changing competitive landscape which with Scorpio-N we are aiming to do. They were not buying because the product was not as competitive as the Scorpio-N now will be. Non metro towns like Asansol, Jaipur, Allahabad, etc. are very much a part of the urban mindset today. And they don't necessarily need a compact vehicle. The real opportunity is in non-metro tier 2 cities," Rajesh Jejurikar, ED of auto & farm Sectors at M&M told reporters on the sidelines of the launch.

Both Scorpio Classic and Scorpio-N will co-exist in the Indian market, the company said. "We are continuing with the current Scorpio as right now it is primarily a semi urban and rural product. When it launched it was very popular in the urban metros but with time it has moved into being a semi urban product like Bolero is also extremely strong in those markets. We don't believe that that segment has an immediate need to change," Jejurikar said. 

"Every component of it is new but there's a design language which will remind you of the old Scorpio. It stays as the part of the family look. This allows you to create freshness and newness while retaining the strength of who you are. Scorpio still has a lot of affinity," he added.

The Scorpio-N competes with Tata Safari, MG Hector Plus, Hyundai Alcazar and its own cousin XUV700. Experts say that the new launch might cannibalise the sales of XUV700 launched in September last year at a starting price of Rs 13.18 lakhs. Jejurikar, however, maintains that it's a very different segmentation. "We expect the Scorpio Classic to have the same traction in rural and semi-rural markets but Scorpio-N is a totally different segmentation. A person who wants to buy a Thar is very different from a person who wants to buy an XUV700 who is very different from Scorpio-N's target group. Scorpio-N is a more aggressive offering while XUV700 is in a very family and friends [kind of zone]," he said. "Each of these will carve out a different segment for itself."

The development and engineering of the All-New Scorpio-N is the outcome of an overall investment of Rs 1,600 Crore which includes setting up of a new automated manufacturing line at the firm's Chakan facility.

The company said that it is simultaneously unveiling the Scorpio-N in South Africa and Nepal, alongside the India launch. "Additionally, Mahindra is committed to introduce the All-New Scorpio-N in Australia and New Zealand and will announce the details shortly. The All-New Scorpio-N hence becomes the first brand from the house of M&M to be globally unveiled (across focused international markets), aligning with Mahindra's strategy to strengthen its global footprint," it said.

M&M's current waiting periods for some models are running into 20 months and with the new launch the situation is expected to get worse. "With XUV700, the waiting periods are almost 20 months. This wasn't the situation when we launched but we're still getting 9000 bookings every month with people being well aware of the waiting times. Currently, XUV700 has a backlog of 70,000 vehicles. There's a fundamental shift in buying behaviour and lesser reliance on shared mobility. The new demand is coming out of that. People are again seeing value in ownership," Jejurikar said.

Also read: Mahindra launches its biggest, most powerful Scorpio-N starting at Rs 11.99 lakh