Sales for Mahindra bakkies and sports-utility vehicles jumped to 2 253 vehicles in March, setting a new monthly record for the Indian brand.

This number is almost 40% higher than Mahindra’s previous record of 1 613 vehicles, set a month earlier, in February.

With this new record, Mahindra has become the eighth-best-selling manufacturer in South Africa, two months after it entered the top ten.

Mahindra has also set a new sales record of 15 088 vehicles in one financial year.

The progress of the Indian brand in die local market underscores the South African consumer continued quest for more affordable motoring.

“We are more than thrilled about our sales performance over the past 12 months, but especially by the underlying story told by these numbers,” says Mahindra South Africa (SA) CEO Rajesh Gupta.

“The overwhelming majority of sales in the past month and past year were made to individuals, and not bulk sales to fleet buyers. This is a true reflection of the health of the Mahindra brand.”

In the past year, Mahindra SA has expanded its presence in the entry-level market with the launch of the XUV 3XO small sports-utility vehicle.

The company has also broken ground on a new assembly facility at the Dube Tradeport, in Durban.

This facility will soon replace the current one, offering the brand more advanced semi-knockdown assembly of its Pik Up models, with capacity of more than 1 000 units a month.

Mahindra has also taken occupation of a new parts distribution warehouse and training facility in Midrand, Gauteng.

This facility more than doubles the group’s holding capacity of parts and components, and will soon also house its training centre and special fitment centre.

In the past financial year, Mahindra has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Industrial Development Corporation to investigate a fully-fledged vehicle manufacturing facility for completely knocked-down vehicles in South Africa.

The parties have also agreed to investigate the manufacturing of parts for fully built-up electric vehicles in South Africa.

Mahindra SA is a fully-owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra of India.

It is celebrating its twentieth year of operations in South Africa this year, and has more than 90 dealerships countrywide.

The Mahindra SA vehicle parc exceeds 100 000 vehicles.