Lower festival demand fails to slow down Mahindra

Thar and XUV 700 SUV maker gave smaller discounts than its peers during festival period

- Nehal Chaliawala

Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) bet on premium sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and the high demand for its SUVs helped it better negotiate the margin squeeze that its peers faced during the October-December quarter.

The Thar and XUV 700 SUV maker gave smaller discounts than its peers during the festival period around November, which usually sees the highest automotive sales in India, its top management told media on Friday.

The company also hiked prices for two of its popular models—XUV 3X0 and XUV 700—at the beginning of the quarter, further securing its margins.

"We did not have to discount too much through the festival season and post that, as well, because a large part of our portfolio is on a very strong demand pipeline," said Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director & CEO (Auto and Farm Sector), M&M Ltd.

M&M reported a 15.4% Ebitda margin during the quarter on a standalone basis, which includes its core automotive and farm equipment business. The company reported an Ebitda margin of 14.2% in the corresponding quarter last year and 18.2% during the preceding quarter. Ebitda is a popular performance metric that stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.