Mahindra & Mahindra hopes Marazzo will be game changer

NEW DELHI: Home-grown utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Monday launched one of its most ambitious products in recent times — the Marazzo, a seven-seater utility vehicle priced at Rs 9.99-13.90 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) — with an eye to reclaim its dominance in the segment, where it is facing competition from every other carmaker in the country.

Marazzo is also important for M&M as it is the first vehicle to be developed jointly by Mahindra’s R&D team in Chennai and its North American Technical Centre. In the design department too, the vehicle is a collaborative product of Italy’s design house Pininfarina and Mahindra Design Centre.

The Marazzo, which means shark in Spanish, has been developed at a cost of Rs $200 million and like the Shark, Mahindra want Marazzo to dominate. “Marazzo is inspired by the shark as it is the only predator in the sea that is unchallenged and lives the longest,” said Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra and Mahindra. He added that his team has challenged the limits to deliver a vehicle that is poised to be nothing less than a game-changer for them.

The vehicle is powered by a 1.5 litre, four-cylinder D15 diesel engine and will come in seven and eight-seater options. Marazzo will be available in four variants — M2, M4, M6, M8 — and in six colours. In the given price point, it faces competition from Maruti Suzuki’s Ertiga, but the real challenge for the vehicle comes from Toyota Innova, a much higher priced utility vehicle.

Mahindra, however, said that the focus of the company will remain to make the product hit and not focus on the market share.