Indian motor company Mahindra is cagey about its SA manufacturing plans after announcing last week that it will launch a mainstream bakkie for global markets.
Local subsidiary Mahindra SA opened a low-volume assembly plant in 2018 at the Dube TradePort special economic zone next to King Shaka International Airport, north of Durban.
At the time, the plant was designed for an annual, single-shift production capacity of 2,500 vehicles that could be pushed to 4,000 if necessary. That has worked for the current Pik-Up range but may not be enough for its successor.
The current, distinctively styled range was designed primarily for Indian customers and has been very successful domestically and in some export markets. These include SA, Mahindra’s biggest market outside India.
But the new Global Pik-Up, expected to launch within two years, is designed with an international audience in mind. Mahindra says that, having proved itself on home soil, it wants to take the fight to the international arena.
That is why the new styling is much closer to that of established bakkie brands such as Toyota, Ford and Nissan. At last week’s international announcement of the new product, in Somerset West, Mahindra chief designer Pratap Bose said the restyling was necessary “for our global acceptance”.
Veejay Nakra, president of Mahindra’s global automotive activities, said “to compete in the global pick-up sector, we have had to design the new product from the bottom-up”. The range will include single- and double-cab versions, to meet both business “workhorse” and lifestyle customer demands.
Nakra wouldn’t discuss projected sales numbers. But if the new product is as successful as Mahindra hopes, it might require a rethink of the scale and complexity of the Dube assembly plant. The plant assembles vehicle kits imported from India, with the addition of some SA components in a manufacturing system known as semiknocked down (SKD).
Big expansion
Mahindra SA CEO Rajesh Gupta MD says the new Pik-Up could be the catalyst for an upgrade to completely-knocked down manufacture (CKD). In this, the entire manufacturing process takes place locally, as in the assembly plants of established companies such as Toyota, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.
That would require a big expansion of the assembly plant, which could be difficult within the confines of Dube Tradeport.
So could Mahindra SA move its operations elsewhere, or consider an offer from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to share a multibrand assembly plant with other motor companies?
Nakra, who was Mahindra SA’s first CEO when it opened in 2004, wouldn’t rule out anything last week. While declining to comment on the scale and timing of manufacturing at Dube, he said: “We hope to build the Global Pik-Up in SA when we scale up.”
Off the record, Mahindra officials said the uncertain state of the SA economy and questions about the direction of local automotive policy have to be considered.
However, given SA’s current importance in the Mahindra world, Nakra said, “This is our big market for going global.” Through SA, he hopes the brand, sold in 10 African countries, can expand its African reach.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.