Mahindra Verito Electric showcased at the AutoExpo 2012 Delhi, India.

The Verito will soon be transformed into a compact sedan to become an entry level car taking on the likes of the upcoming Maruti Dzire compact sedan and the Tata Manza compact sedan. But before all that, Mahindra also displayed an all electric concept of the Verito at the ongoing 2012 Indian Auto Expo. The all electric Verito uses technology that Mahindra has gained access to when it took over Reva Electric, India’s foremost electric car manufacturer.

The Verito Electric uses a 40 bhp electric motor that will deliver a range of 100 kilometers on a full charge of its lithium ion battery stack. The lithium ion battery stack has a charge time of 6 hours while a quick charge option that juices the battery partially to up to 80% of its capacity can be achieved in an hour and fifteen minutes. The Verito Electric has a top speed of 86 Kph and comes with an automatic CVT transmission that obviates the need of a manual clutch.

The Verito electric, like many of the electric cars displayed at the Auto Expo might be a concept whosecommercial production might still be many years away. Yet, the important takeaway here is that the electrictechnology Mahindra has showcased in the Verito Electric could some day filter down to Mahindra’s range of vehicles in the future. Also, Mahindra has been using the synergies it gained with its spate of acquisitions in the past few years very effectively and going into the future, expect more such products from the Indian marquee which began life as a jeep and tractor maker.

The Sub-4 mtr logan to be launched at the Auto Expo 2012. In competition with the New small Maruti DZire and the New Indigo Manza small car. Expect sharp pricing for the Small Verito. To be launched only by the year end though.

According to reports which quoted M&M president (Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors) Pawan Goenka as saying “While one will be a refreshed version, the other one will be a smaller car that will be sub-four metre in length.’’ Besides, M&M will introduce a new sports utility vehicle by December this year, Goenka said without sharing details.

Source: Wheels Unplugged

Merging the Logan manufacturing division with itself would help M&M work more aggressively on product development and also give it a tax shelter that can be used to set off profits and reduce the combined tax outgo.

“Since the Verito division made losses, M&M will reorganise the share capital and share premium account by setting off portion of the existing losses incurred by the division,” said a senior company official who did not wish to

be named.

After M&M acquired French carmaker Renault’s 49 per cent stake in the Mahindra Renault joint venture that manufactured the Logan passenger car in April 2010, it continued operating the division as a subsidiary of M&M. “There is synergy in the manufacturing, product development and sourcing of Mahindra Vehicles division and hence we are moving the Verito vehicle business to M&M,” Rajesh Jejurikar, chief executive – automotive division at M&M told Financial Chronicle.

The company will seek shareholders approval for the merger at the annual general meeting in August 2011, he added.

Renault exited the JV after sales of Logan fell to a paltry 350 units per month. According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) data, Logan sales fell to 5,332 units in 2009-10 from 13,423 units in 2008-09. The decline also resulted in losses of over Rs 600 crore for both the partners during 2007-2010.

Since M&M makes healthy profits, the JV’s carryforward losses can be set off against M&M’s profits resulting in lower profits reported under the provisions of the Income Tax Act.

After M&M acquired Logan, sales of the car improved to 10,009 units in 2010-11. The company, in April this year, rebranded the car as Verito. M&M sold 2,297 units of Verito in the first two months of this financial year, according to Siam’s May 2011 data.

According to M&M’s annual report for 2009-10, the share capital of Mahindra Renault was Rs 200 crore. M&M had invested Rs 154 crore in the JV.

Deepak Jain, assistant vice-president at Sharekhan, said, “M&M was operating the Verito division as a subsidiary as it was meant to roll out more products with Renault. Since there is no JV now, it is viable to merge the division into the company. That way, M&M will be able to utilise the assets for developing other products and leverage the balance sheet.”

M&M, however, will continue sourcing 1.5-litre diesel engines from Renault.

As reported in the Financial Chronicle

An unofficial rendering of the Dacia X52, or the next-generation Logan.

Sure the current gen Logan has been renamed the Verito in India. But Renault and Dacia have not given up on taking the project to its next level. Dacia is working on the next generation model of the Logan, which the company may launch in 2012. But this time it won’t be a bare-basic workhorse, it would be much more than that. It would be stylish, spacious, much more premium and still carry forward the biggest USP of its predecessor, the VFM proposition. The large interior, the luggage space, ride quality and road holding will also be maintained as the key features of the new car just as the current one.

The new generation version of the Logan, codenamed X52, will try to match the German cars in all aspects. “The new car is seen as somewhere between Renault Fluence, Skoda Octavia, VW Passat, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze. At least from a visual standpoint. In other words, the Logan 2 will be low-cost with a “human face”. I do not want people to feel ashamed that they are driving a Logan” said Larens van den Acker, the head of design at Renault.

The new Logan, or the Logan 2 will be 4.60 meter long and will have a cavernous, 500-liter boot. New engines will do duty under the bonnet, all Euro 5 compliant. Engine options will be 1.4-and 1.6-liter petrol units, mated with both manual and automatic gearboxes. The 1.6-liter gas burner will produce 110bhp, while the current 1.5-liter dCi diesel will also be available.

Higher spec models will also feature Led lights. New, brighter colours will also do their bit in lifting the image of the new Logan. Brighter and lighter colours like red and yellow will be used.

Prices for the new car would be more than current one, as it would be a big leap forward. Speculations range from Rs. 8.5 lakh to Rs. 9.5 lakh in the international market for the 1.6 petrol and the 1.5 diesel variants respectively.

Story Source :- Motoroids

Click here for Discussion on Clublogan.com Forum

EDIT:-

The story above is as reported in Motoroids.com

A fellow ClubLogan.com Forum Member, Dan from Bucuresti, Romania has brought to our notice that the Car in the Picture is actually a Chinese Car Roewe 550. We have no way of verifying the story.

Of course, the visitor who does not wish to use the mobile version will be available to him the possibility to return to normal view forum.

This feature is still in beta, you will only be able to browse the forum as a guest. No posting yet.

To try, go to http://www.ClubLogan.com/forum from your mobile.

Mahindra & Mahindra has finally renamed the Logan, it will now be called Mahindra Verito (Truth in Latin).  This falls in line with Mahindra’s tradition of all vehicle names ending with ‘O’. Verito will now be a out-n-out Mahindra product and hence Mahindra & Mahindra will now make all the changes it always wanted to but couldn’t thanks to their limited control over the Logan.

However, we do not expect extensive changes in the car, steps have been taken to increase the appeal and work on the image of the Verito. Mechanicals are expected to be the same with more localisations.

Cost would stay more or less the same and the Verito is expected later this month. The under 4 Meter Verito(Logan) and also a completely redesigned Verito (Logan) areexpected late 2011 or early 2012.

Discussions on ClubLogan.com Forum – http://mahindralogan.forumotion.com/t743-logan-renamed-as-verito

Story Source :- Autocar India

EDIT:- Mahindra has already created a website http://www.MahindraVerito.com will be up soon.

EDIT II :- New

Press Release from Mahindra & Mahindra

Synopsis:

• Verito to sport Mahindra badge and emblem
• Styling elements added to unique proposition of space, mileage and performance
• Competitively priced at Rs 4.82 lakh (petrol) & 5.62 lakh (diesel) for BS3 version pan India

April 26, 2011, Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a part of the US $ 11.1 billion Mahindra Group, today announced the launch of its sedan – the Verito. The new Verito retains the famed strengths of the Logan, while adding a new style with some key changes. Now equipped with several rugged and sporty styling elements, the Verito is all set to be the most exciting buy in the entry level sedan category for Indian consumers. It is competitively priced at Rs. 4.82 lakh (petrol BS3 version) & 5.62 lakh (Diesel BS3 version). The BS4 compliant version is also available for BS4 markets.

Verito which is derived from the Latin word ‘Veritas’ means truth and goes with the overall image of an honest, sensible and dependable car.

Powered by the Renault engine, the Verito is a sedan which remains true to itself and the consumer by offering the unique proposition of space, mileage and performance along with style. The exterior of this car is quite unique with ski racks and side cladding, which are available for the first time on a sedan in the Indian market. The chrome rear appliqué and rear spoiler increases the car’s premium quotient and gives it a distinctive look at the rear. These new additions on the exterior align with the tough, rugged and sporty DNA of a Mahindra vehicle.

On the performance front, the Verito retains all the strengths of the Logan. The new Verito offers the same Renault drive train with the option of a 1.5 DCi CRDi diesel engine or 1.4 MPFI petrol engine. Equipped with this, the Verito offers an amazing 21.03 KMPL fuel efficiency (diesel mileage as per ARAI). The Verito remains the broadest car in its segment, offering unmatched cabin space. It also boasts of a spacious seating capacity and a boot space which is one of the largest, with 510 litre capacity.

Similar to the Logan, the Verito offers a host of safety and technology features like ABS with EBD, Driver Airbag, head restraint for all seats, side impact beams, driver information system etc. Further, a long wheel base of 2630 mm ensures a very smooth ride even on Indian roads.

Packed with class leading space, comfort, proven technology, safety features and a low running and maintenance cost, the Verito scores highly over its nearest competitors.

Mr. Rajesh Jejurikar, Chief Executive, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.said “The Verito, with its unique value proposition aligns with the Mahindra DNA of offering tough, rugged and sporty vehicles. For the first time, we are using social media platforms to unveil a new product, reflecting alternative thinking. The earlier Logan will continue to get complete service and spares support from us.”

Features of the Verito

The Verito has several new features which include:

• Mahindra Logo
• New bold fog lamps
• Side cladding
• Roof rails/ski rack
• Rear Chrome appliqué
• New Upholstery
• New Colour – Twilight Blue

The Logan, sporting the M&M logo, will be rolled out in the next two months. Rajesh Jejurikar, chief executive, automotive division, M&M, said, “We will be changing the branding on the Logan with M&M logo within two months, but it would not be a facelift. There will be no styling changes for now and we plan to launch a facelift in 2012.”

Asked about the less than four-metre long Logan, Jejurikar, said, “It is still in the development stage and I cannot give you a timeline for the same.” The company also has plans for a completely new product on the Logan platform, for which it had said it is talking to Renault.

This will be the second major move from M&M on the Logan after the price rationalisation that the former undertook on the model immediately after Renault’s exit in April last year.

Post the price rationalisation, the Logan has witnessed strong volume growth. In the period extending from April to February 2010-11, 8,991 units of Logan were sold as against 4,981 units in the same period last year, a growth of 81%. The model’s volumes had dropped to as lower than 500 units per month in the last leg of the Mahindra-Renault marriage.

Logan has been in the market since 2007 under MRPL and gathered good response in the first full year of sale in the country. The Logan is a Dacia design and was developed with east Eruopean market in mind, where it was a successful low-cost car. In 2008, the Logan volumes were strong at close to 20,000 units, which trembled to under 6,500 in 2009 (calendar year).

Logan at M&M Factory, Nashik

The repositioning and re-engineering of the Logan, the no-frills sedan from Mahindra & Mahindra, is well underway, even as sales of the car, which was in the thick of a testy relationship with French partner Renault SA, rebounds.

The automaker is now preparing to launch a smaller version by the last quarter of the next fiscal, Pawan Goenka, president, automotive and farm equipment sector of the company, told DNA.

The trend of launching sub-4 metre, short-boot sedans, initiated by Tata Motors with the Indigo CS, seems have caught the fancy of major car makers because of excise benefits.

Leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki is also cropping the rump of its best-seller Dzire to 4 metres with the same goal in mind.

Yezdi Nagaporewala, head of automotive practice at KPMG India, the Big Four audit firm, said cars measuring under 4 metres and having either a sub-1.2 litre petrol engine or a 1.5 litre diesel engine qualifies as a small car.

“This attracts an excise duty of 10%, while a car measuring more than 4 metres draws 22% excise duty,” Nagaporewala said.
M&M also intends to launch a souped up version of Logan around the same time.

“The car is doing well. We re-launched around 9 months back. We are selling almost 1,000 Logans a month. In the last three months, we have sold almost 3,000. So we are now well-poised to launch a refresh version,” Goenka said.

In April last year, M&M announced it will buy out French carmaker Renault SA from their five-year-old joint venture and try to revive flagging sales of the sedan in a booming car market.

Goenka said Renault continues to help produce the two vehicles.

“There is no break-up between the companies. In fact, Renault is still giving us engineering information to do the refresh and the sub-4 metre car. So we have only converted a joint venture to a licensing agreement,” he said.

Renault continues to supply components to M&M. The French car maker earns a royalty for every Logan, M&M sells.

Currently 45% of the parts is supplied by Renault to M&M while the rest are sourced locally.

As reported in the DNA India.