Wednesday, July 14, 2010

M&M plans to build plant in SA

JOHANNESBURG: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) plans to set up a plant in South Africa as improving market conditions boosted the company’s sales in the region by 80% since the beginning of last year, says a media report.

“There are many benefits in having an assembly plant in South Africa,” M&M group president Pawan Goenka told the daily ‘Business Day’. M&M could not provide details of where the plant would be located in South Africa and how much would be invested on it, but merely indicated that a feasibility study had been completed.

The benefit would be an affirmation of its commitment to the local market, while sales cycles would be reduced from two months to 10 days, the report said. “South Africa would be M&M’s gateway to the rest of Africa,” he said.

M&M already has a strong tractor brand in Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Chad and Mali on the West coast of Africa. Earlier, M&M had not considered a local factory to be viable, but the improved local sales, though coming off a small base, as well as opportunities on the rest of the continent had prompted the decision.

Concentrating largely on the commercial vehicle market since it came to South Africa in 2004, M&M now wants to make available its tractor offerings to SA as well.

TOI

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