Stallio fails toput brake as Mahindra motorcycle sales slips by 36%

Mahindra & Mahindra which has been aggressively trying to make inroads in the 7.3 million units per year motorcycle with the help of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, has failed to create much excitement, with sales slipping 36 per cent last month from the previous one.

Sales of Stallio, a 110 cc bike launched bt M&M towards the end of September, were just 1,706 units in November as against 2,664 units in October.

The Stallio has to compete with segments leaders like Hero Honda’s Splendor and Passion brands and Bajaj’s Discover on pricing and power. It is M&M’s only motorcycle presently on sale and is priced at under Rs.42,000 (ex-showroom Pune).

Honda’s CB Twister, a 110 cc bike launched to challenge the Splendor , sells more than 15,000 units per month and is priced at around Rs.45,000 (Ex-showroom, Pune)
While executives at Mahindra Two Wheelers, the newly created company or the Rs. 32000 crore Mahindra Group, claimed the Stallio is facing encouraging demand, it is in the process of expanding the reach of the bike to all it’s dealers. When asked about the sharp drop in sales, Devendra Shinde, vice president (Marketing), 2-wheeler said “about 250-275 dealerships are selling the bike, while others are only displaying it.

We are in the ramp-up mode. Our production of the earlier period got cleared in October and whatever we produced then were sold in November. We have got into the Motorcycle segment for the first time and we are still learning”.

Mahindra 2-Wheelers has put in place about 400 dealers for it’s 2 Wheelers with an additional 250 service outlets. The company would be expanding it’s reach to the Taluka level from the district-level.

The Stallio is promoted by M&M as a stylish and practical bike, with attractive fuel efficiency. The company reportedly paid Rs. 14 crores to Bollywood Actor and Director Amir Khan as endorsement fee for promoting the bike.

In addition to the Stallio consumers don’t seem to be rushing to buy M&M’s scooter range, of 3 odd models. Collectively, the company sole just 14148 automatic scooters in November, a fall of nearly 24% compare to the 18540 units sold in October.

However the sale numbers are up on a month-on-month comparison from last year. M&M sold 7020 two wheelers in November 2009 and 6804 units in October 2009.

Mahindra 2 wheels dispatched a total of 16569 units in September which grew in October to 21204 units and it dropped sharply to 15854 units in November. The drop in November was despite a motorcycle been added to the production line.

A company executive, however maintained that demand for it’s products were outstripping supply. “We haven’t been able to satisfy demand for our products and we are in the process of ramping up production”, Shinde added.