Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd (MTWL) plans to cut the waiting period of its Centuro motorcycle by 3-4 weeks by the end of this month or early December. The Mahindra Goup company has also won international patents for the technologies used in Centuro.
MTWL had launched Centuro on July 1, positioning it in the 100-110cc segment with a price tag of Rs 45,000 (ex-showroom New Delhi). The two-wheeler at present has a six-week waiting period.
“We are sitting on 25,000 bookings. We are confident that we will be able to bring down the waiting period by December with vehicle sales slowing during the month,” said Viren Popli, MTWL’s Executive Vice-President.
Traditionally, December is a slow month with buyers postponing purchases and vehicle registrations to the next year.
TO DOUBLE CAPACITY
The Mumbai-based company is also planning to double production capacity to 2,000 units per day. Centuro is being manufactured at its Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh.
“If everything goes well, we will double the capacity in the next 3-6 months. This would further help in bringing down the waiting period,” Popli added.
From the 30th position at the time of launch, the Centuro has moved up to be the 13th most sold motorcycle brand in India, according to an MTWL study.
Of its total sales of 75,000 units (from launch to October-end), almost 40 per cent came from the South. Senior Vice-President P.S. Ashok, who heads the company’s R&D and Pune operations, said: “Traditionally, we have always done well in the South.
“These markets have understood and appreciated the features of the vehicle well, while the general customer perception of Centuro is also quite good.”
MTWL also plans to increase the total number of touch points in theSouth to 600 (from 400) and double the all-India number to 1,200 by the end of this fiscal.
GLOBAL PATENTS
The company has received global patents for technologies such as the fuel gauge system, immobiliser system (anti-theft), distance–to-empty indicator (to gauge the distance the bike will run with the remaining fuel) and a method for automatic ignition cut-off (switching off engines at red lights).
“These innovations were based on customer insights and have struck a deep chord with many of our customers,” Popli said, adding the patents were granted on October 31.
The company will use the automatic ignition cut-off system, which saves fuel, in other models too,
Ashok said. MTWL had applied for the patents, which were developed in-house at its Pune R&D centre, at the launch time itself.
