Mahindra may Introduces Two New Models in Motorcycle Return

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (MM), India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle maker, unveiled two motorcycle models as it plans to reenter the market two years after withdrawing its debut model because of a flawed gearbox.

The company will introduce the Centuro and Pantero models with 110 cc engines, it said in a statement today, without saying when the models will go on sale or how much they would cost.

Mahindra introduced the Stallio in September 2010 and withdrew it in 2011 after discovering the gearbox glitch, The Economic Times reported at the time.

Mahindra, also India’s largest tractor maker, began making scooters in 2008 after buying Kinetic Motor Co. to increase sales in the world’s second-biggest two-wheeler market, where the vehicles outsell cars more than seven-to-one.

Indian two- wheeler sales grew 4 percent to 9.24 million units in the eight months through November, compared with a 1.3 percent increase in passenger car sales, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

The company had said in July 2010 that it aimed to make its two-wheeler business as large as its tractor and sport-utility vehicle businesses within seven years.

Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd., which is 88.5 percent owned by Mahindra, lost 2.4 billion rupees in the year ended March 31, 2012, according to the company’s annual report.