Back to the wall, M&M banks on SsangYong-derived car to rev up SUV sales

Mahindra is desperate for a best-seller in the compact SUV space, on which it missed the bus, admits Mahindra Group Managing Director Pawan Goenka

When Mahindra bought Korean manufacturer SsangYong in 2011, it cited business reasons — from expanding its global footprint to shared capabilities in utility vehicles.

Except SsangYong was in the throes of bankruptcy, and union trouble, and had more to gain than to give.

Eight years later, Mahindra scripted a turnaround by identifying strengths and weaknesses, nixing poor performers — the Actyon, Kyron, and Chairman H — and giving the existing ones a makeover. The turning point came in 2015, when it launched the Tivoli, a compact SUV that drove more than half the car sales of more than 150,000 in