Mahindra Verito Sedan to get a facelift by December 2011
Mahindra &Mahindra, knows its way around the Indian car market quite well and the proof of the pudding is the Mahindra Verito Sedan. Previously the Mahindra Renault Logan, this car, after showing initial promise saw it’s sales slipping dramatically even as a distraught Renault chose to sell of the Logan’s manufacturing and distribution rights to Mahindra. And thus was born Mahindra’s first sedan, the Verito.
The Verito was in essence a rebadged Logan, but Mahindra put it’s marketing and distribution muscle wholeheartedly behind the car which saw volumes improve dramatically. For starters, the Verito sold 1,510 units in June 2011, while it could manage only as the Logan in March 2011. Now, that is a full 50% increase in sales, a figure that has steadily moved upwards after the relaunch.
What also needs to be kept in mind is that these sales figure come at a time when the Indian car industry is actually in the midst of a general slowdown with car sales falling. Taking that into perspective, these sales numbers for the Verito look all the more impressive and deservedly so, as the car in Renault Logan guise(Now, the Mahindra Verito) was always a comfortable, frugal and practical car which somehow didn’t find acceptance in the Indian market.
Going forward, Mahindra seems to have bigger plans for the Verito. While the compact sedan based on the Verito was announced a while ago, what wasn’t was a facelift for the Mahindra Verito. In under a year of it’s relaunch, the Mahindra Verito Sedan is set to go under the knife for a facelift, which we think will be an exercise by Mahindra to slowly shed off the lines of the Logan.
Here’s what M&M president (Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors) Pawan Goenka has said about Mahindra’s plans for the Verito “While one will be a refreshed version, the other one will be a smaller car that will be sub-four metre in length.”
Knowing that Mahindra is in the middle of a styling refresh for the Verito, let’s hope that they manage to come up with a handsome looker, as a welcome respite from the Mahindra school of dowdy design. So, with the Verito getting a facelift, there’s a fat chance that the compact sedan version will also get the facelifted parts to look trendier.
The competition in the compact sedan space definitely seems to be hotting up as the lone ranger, the Tata Indigo CS, is all set to be challenged by two new products, the Maruti Swift Dzire Compact Sedan and the Mahindra Verito Compact Sedan. These cars, that will sit under the entry level full sized sedans are set to bring good volumes to their makers, even as the Indian car buyer has the tempting prospect of buying a sedan for a price lesser than a premium hatchback.
Via : ICB
