[GTO]

From the official communication received:

• 25 tonner, MN 25 truck rolls out of Mahindra’s Chakan plant
• MNAL to roll out other variants shortly
• Start of sales in the next 2-3 months
• Extensive sales & service network developed

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.”

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.

[prmd_cochin]

Wow so many breaking news from our side. Thanks for the updates.

Well if there is a company that can break the duopoly of AL and TM, then its mahindra who are well known for their rugged and reliable UVs.

[hvkumar]

Isn't this a very competitive price, close to what AL, TM and Eicher sell in this range - this one with fully-built cab. Any price comparisons?

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by prmd_cochin

Well if there is a company that can break the duopoly of AL and TM, then its mahindra who are well known for their rugged and reliable UVs.

You are absolutely right. They already got the vast network of sales and service centers, which is really hard for a new comer.
Only issue is M&M relationship with its partners (read Navistar), How long M&M can maintain this relationship with Navistar? Howlong Navistar, can play second fiddle to M&M?

[TheARUN]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Isn't this a very competitive price, close to what AL, TM and Eicher sell in this range - this one with fully-built cab. Any price comparisons?

Yeah, a price comparison with the competition is surely called for, It'll be very interesting.

Another interesting thing is a top speed of 90kmph

An ASHOK LEYLAND VIKING with PRAKASH body tourist bus (Raj's bus) costs 25lakhs on road, so does this compare well with a 16ton payload truck for 17lakhs on road?

[Blue Thunder]

Wow, good, healthy competition in the HCV market. My best wishes to MM Navistar.

The truck looks good aesthetically. Only thing that I noticed is the location of that big light (turn indicator ?) on the rounded edge of the bumper...looks like that is going to get broken often, courtesy Indian operating conditions.

[raj_5004]

For price comparisons, an eicher/tata/AL fully cab built truck capable of 25,000 GVW will cost Rs. 12-15L.

[n.devdath]

The TATA 2515C with a GVW of 25 tons costs 21 lacs OTR with the road tax, insurance and a fully built body and cabin by a local body builder. Going by this, the Navistar is cheaper to a certain extent. What remains to be seen are the mileage figures and the cost of spares of the vehicle not to mention reliability and financing options.
TATA finance is amongst the friendliest financiers in the CV market today.

[directinjection]

I like cab design of these trucks - stylish with a touch of macho! The styling has been done by the Mahindra guys right here in India - they didn't go to their collaborator for the purpose. Really appreciate that. Tata World truck has been styled by Stile Bertone of Italy and the upcoming light trucks have been styled by the Koreans. There's no contribution from Tata in the styling.

Also noticed the impressive gradeability figure at 25% +.

[amitk26]

A Mahindra truck at 14.99 Lakhs , Now Scorpio looks over priced , Seriously I was expecting Truck cost to be around 50 lakhs considering what SUVs sell for.

[SirAlec]

Now the thing is maintainability
TATA has been practically maintainance free and can be serviced by any road side mechanic. parts are cheap.

There are many places which makes duplicate body panels for TATA, and you will be surprised to know the price of them.


anybody has the interior images, please upload.

thanks