M&M hopes to capture Punjab mart with Logan

Having received an overwhelming response from customers in 11 cities that the car has been launched thus far, Mahindra Renault today unveiled two new variants of the Logan within the existing range for the northern market.

The new models 1.6 GLX (petrol) and 1.5 dCi DLX (diesel) have been positioned in between the GLE/ DLE and GLS/ DLS variants .

The additional features over GLE/ DLE that will be available to customers include adjustable rear-head restraint, trunk room light, front and rear windows. Moreover, the company intends to open 12-14 new dealers in the northern region to boost sales.

Nalin Mehta, vice-president (sales & marketing), said, " We have high hopes from the Punjab market with this new model. Already we have sold 800 cars and with new models and dealers we hope to do extremely well here."

The Logan was launched in April 2007 and was rolled out in phases across 11 cities. In May, the Logan clocked sales of 2,786 units and 2,389 units in June.

Initially, the car was introduced with three engine options "� 1.4 & 1.6 petrol and 1.5 diesel and with five trim levels. In the northern region, the company has sold 800 cars in two months.

Mehta added, "This is significant considering that we are currently covering only 40 per cent of the market. We expect these numbers to go up significantly as production and regional launches are ramped up over the next couple of months."

Expressing his view about the potential in this segment, he added that the demand for the B & C segment cars was 17 per cent in the last year, so it has immense potential. As per estimates, the market size for the B & C segments in India is about 9 lakh.

On dealer expansion, he said, " By August-end, we will have 68 dealers across India. So far as the northern region is concerned, we will add another 12-14 dealers within two month. At present, the company has dealership in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and planning to open dealership in Patiala, Amritsar, Jammu, Shimla, Mandi, Hisar, Rewari, Karnal, Kota."

The Logan is manufactured at Mahindra's Nashik plant which has an installed capacity to produce 50,000 units annually in two shifts.

The Logan made its debut on April 3. Bookings opened in dealerships across Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Nashik, NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar, and deliveries started in the first week of May.