Mahindra two-wheelers had at first started out by selling rebadged and updated Kinetic scooters, and the scooters rebadged as the Rodeo, the Duro and the Flyte kept the sales numbers going upto a certain extent, till Mahindra launched their motorcycles. The Pantero was the first Mahindra motorcycle, but never was destined to be a success, and then more recently came in the Centuro. The Centuro really changed fortunes for Mahindra and they started making some decent progress with the help of the Centuro.
Now though, it looks like Mahindra has decided to depend more on its scooters and is developing a new 110cc scooter for the Indian market. The Indian consumers just can’t get enough of scooters and have made the scooter segment, the fastest growing two-wheeler segment in the country right now. No two-wheeler manufacturer can afford to stay away from this segment as they would be losing all the potential profits this segment could help them achieve, and hence all manufacturers have either already launched or are scrambling to launch their own product in this segment, and one of them is Mahindra.
Mahindra two-wheelers has been developing an all new scooter for the Indian scooter segment and the new scooter has been spotted recently while undergoing camouflaged testing. The scooter has been codenamed as ‘G301’ and will be a unisex scooter much like its main rival, the Honda Activa. Not much can be revealed about the aesthetics of the scooter, as it was heavily camouflaged, but one can make out that it has vertical indicators, integrated into the front apron, the rest of the scooter was very basic and nothing too fancy, and it looks like Mahindra is playing the cost-cutting game with the ‘G301’ which would also mean aggressive pricing strategies will be implemented.
The G301 is powered by a 106.7cc, single cylinder, air-cooled engine which produces a peak power output of 8.5 PS and a peak torque figure of 8.5 NM. This is the very same engine used to power their top selling model, the Centuro. The major change will be that, in the Centuro this engine comes with a 5-speed transmission, but in the G301 scooter, it will be mated to a CVT gearbox.
Mahindra will price and position the ‘G301’ in the same price bracket as the Honda Activa, and it will also see competition from other scooters like the TVS Jupiter, TVS Wego, Suzuki Let’s and the Hero Maestro
Source – www.indiancarsbikes.in
