Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited (MTWL)
was established in the year 2008 and is headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra. The
establishment took place when Mahindra & Mahindra acquired select assets of
Kinetic Motor Company Limited (KMCL).
The company has a manufacturing
facility at Pithampur, near Indore in Madhya Pradesh. MTWL also has its R&D
facility located at Chinchwad, Pune, equipped with the necessary design and
development facilities. These facilities render prototype manufacture and
testing.
As of 2018, the company had a
200-vendor network spread across the nation creating nearly 700 sales and
service centres. MTWL has, over the years, made its presence felt in about 17
countries across the globe.
In 2009, the company launched a
revamped and rebranded version of the Kinetic Flyte. After a few months, it launched
the Duro and Rodeo bikes in India. These were the first Mahindra two-wheelers
in India. In 2011, an upgrade to the Duro, the 125cc Duro DZ, was launched.
This was the year when MTWL became the first Indian company to compete in the
FIM Moto3 Motorcycle Racing Championship. It represented all Mahindra bikes in
the two-wheeler industry on a global platform. In 2013, MTWL entered the
commuter motorcycle segment with Centuro, the first Mahindra bike in India.
In 2014, MTWL acquired a 51% stake in
Peugeot Motorcycles (PMTC). It was part of the 54 billion-euro Peugeot S.A.
(PSA) Group based in France. PMTC has been one of the oldest and most successful
players in urban mobility in Europe for over 116 years. PMTC offers one of the
most comprehensive ranges of bikes and mopeds, ranging from 50cc to 400cc. It
also includes the successful three-wheeled bike, the Metropolis.
Shifting
its focus from mass-market to niche products, the company planned to roll off
the production line of the 300cc Mojo. This was to mark the company’s debut in
the sports-touring segment in India. In 2017, MTWL announced its withdrawal
from the mass market two-wheeler segment, citing declining sales and tough
competition. It stated that it’s shifting focus to premium products as the key reason
behind this move. The Mahindra two-wheelers, ever sold in India, have been the Gusto
110, the Gusto 125, the Centuro NXT, the Centuro Rockstar, the Mojo UT 300, and
the Mojo XT 300, among others.
