Mahindra Increases Production Capacity By A Fifth In December

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. raised its production capacity by a fifth in the final month of 2024 to cater to the outsized demand that its oversized cars are garnering.

India's largest SUV maker by revenue produced 53,361 units in December 2024 as against 44,495 units in the year-ago period—a growth of 19.92% year-on-year, according to an exchange filing on Monday. At 37,779 units, SUVs accounted for two-thirds of the total production capacity. That itself is 16.8% higher than last year.

The production has moved in tandem with higher sales.

In December, the Thar maker dispatched 45,023 units to dealers as against 36,329 units in the year-ago period—a growth of 24% year-on-year. The company grew its monthly sales every month in an atypical year for the world's third largest industry.

To be sure, M&M has been on a tear since the Thar broke cover in 2020.

The Mumbai-based automaker has raised its SUV production by 3.5 times since fiscal 2020. Now, it aims to exit Fiscal 2025 with an annual capacity of 64,000 units and Fiscal 2026 with 72,000 units. That includes an extra 5,000 units of the Thar Roxx and XUV 3XO, though the Scorpio remains its best-selling model by a fair margin.

But making more and more cars requires more money.

M&M has set aside Rs 37,000 crore for capital expenditure over FY25-27, which includes Rs 14,000 crore for internal-combustion SUVs and Rs 12,000 crore for those with electric powertrains. The firm plans to make 10,000 units of its recently unveiled BE 6 and XEV 9e electric SUVs in the fiscal 2025.

On Monday, M&M shares fell 2.58% to Rs 3,105.10 apiece on the BSE even as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 1.59% lower at 77,964.99 points.