Scooter and motorcycle manufacturer Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited (MTWL), a subsidiary owned by Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced that it will buy 51% stake in Peugeot Motorcycles (PMTC), the oldest French two wheeler manufacturer in the world. It will account to around Euro 15 million to finance projects. MTWL has its own set of innovative technology, with this merger, MTWL will have access to Peugeot’s technology while Peugeot will get access to Indian market. MTWL will also get growth and brand strategy support from PMTC. With the completion of this buyout, Peugeot scooters may be launched in India, though the company has not revealed any plan about the launch yet.
When MTWL was founded, Mahindra had acquired the business asset of Kinetic Motor Company limited. MTWL also partnered with Ssanyang, a Korean automaker for improvement in scooter design and engineering.
Speaking about the development, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive Director, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “The coming together of Mahindra Peugeot is a win-win for the two wheeler businesses of both companies. Mahindra would offer access to the India market, mass market product technology and competence in marketing while Peugeot brings premium range, a strong European footprint, and a globally recognized brand. This partnership would enable both MTWL and PMTC to speed their international expansion by driving synergies and leveraging respective strengths of both parties”.
The two wheeler offerings from Peugeot include scooters and mopeds, from 50cc to 400cc, while there is a very popular three wheeler offering as well – the Metropolis scooter. Mahindra on the other hand is pinnacle of two wheeler segment around the globe. Mahindra Racing competes in the Moto GP and electric two wheeler – Mahindra GenZe has recently been revealed in the US market. Mahindra a USD 16.5 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India currently offers a comprehensive range of two wheelers in India like Mahindra Gusto, Rodeo, Flyte and Kine in the scooter segment and Mahindra Centuro and Pantero in the motorcycle segment. Mahindra scooters compete with Honda, TVS motors and Hero Motocorp in India.
MTWL has already imported few scooters – StreetZone-50cc, Speedfight 3-50cc, Satelis-125cc and CityStar 150cc to India for testing. Thus, with the import of Peugeot scooters and buying of 51% stake in PMTC, it is clearly signalled that Peugeot scooters might get launched in India soon. The company though, has not revealed any plan for launch of Peugeot scooters. Stay tuned for more updates.
Image Credits- BikeWale
