Mahindra’s branding for the Quanto, which claims to make ‘Weekdays feel like Weekends’ is a clear indication that the automaker is targeting urban India’s SUV buyers with this car. The company has spent less than Rs. 100 crores to develop the Quanto, as it uses the same platform of the Xylo. The amount spent is a fraction of the budget that car makers have for an all new car model, the compact SUV is expected to bring back Mahindra’s investment soon, with all the potential of becoming a hugely profitable model if it manages to sell at 5,000 units a month.
The Quanto will be build alongside the Xylo, in the same production facility, using the same platform. This will allow the car manufacturer to have a flexible production schedule, with the total capacity for the Xylo MPV and the Quanto compact SUV to sell over 7,500 units each month. This means that Mahindra is targeting monthly sales of about 5,000 units for the Quanto, given that the Xylo sells about 2,500 units every month. While the mini SUV is only available in India now, Europe, South Africa and Chile exports will begin in 2013.
Mahindra plans to use a bigger 2.2-litre mHawk engine (used on the Scorpio and XUV500 models) in export models, besides this the company has already started working on mHawk powered 4-wheel drive version of the Quanto compact SUV. The Quanto with the 4-wheel drive option is said to be more powerful than the existing unit. At the launch event yesterday, Mahindra also confirmed the launch of Ssangyong Rexton by end of this year. However, we are not sure if Mahindra will launch the Ssangyong Rexton II or the new Rexton W SUV which was showcased at the 2012 Busan Auto Show in May.
Also see the follows –
Prices of Mahindra Quanto in various cities revealed
Mahindra Quanto Compact SUV launched at Rs. 5.82 lakh
Mahindra Quanto Compact SUV’s official video hits interweb
Image Credit – The Hindu BusinessLine
