Mahindra Ocean Blue will manufacture leisure boats

Indian auto industry major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Tuesday confirmed that it would soon be entering the leisure boat manufacturing segment.

The company is all set to open up a new manufacturing unit to manufacture fibreglass powerboats, cabin cruisers and catamarans. The company is planning to foray through Mahindra Ocean Blue, a joint undertaking with Mumbai-based marina operator Ocean Blue.

Mahindra Ocean Blue will explot the huge opportunities in the marine section. “A dedicated facility would be set up, depending on the demand,” executive vice president of Mahindra, Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, said when asked about the manufacturing unit the company plans to commence shortly.

Mahindra Ocean Blue has already set its targets,”The demand may not be sky-rocketing. We hope to sell around 200-300 units in the next 2-3 years.” Bhiwandiwala added. Cochin, Mumbai and Goa are likely to provide the company with the clients for the leisure boats it manufactures. Currently, there are only a few small boat manufacturers in India, and Mahindra being a much larger company and resources can easily capture that market. Initially, Mahindra would concentrate on selling only in India, but later would try to market the boats abroad too.

The boats will be labelled Mahindra Odyssea and are expected to have engines in the range of 75 HP to 200 HP. Initially, the engines for the boats would be imported from US-based Evinrude. Prototype of the boat will be launched soon at the Mumbai International Boat Show. The boat will be up for direct sale at the moment, “We are not going to launch any showroom now. Currently our model will be direct selling.” explained Mr Zhooben Bhiwandiwala. The size of the Mahindra Odyssea boats will range from 20-40 feet.

Mr Bhiwandiwala said that boat manufacturing does not require a huge investment. He said that leisure boats are fairly simple products. “We would leverage synergies of group companies such as Mahindra Composites, Mahindra Defence Systems and Mahindra Financial Service Ltd.”

A strong reason for M&M’s foray into the leisure boat segment under the Mahindra Odyssey brand and the Mahindra Ocean Blue JV is the fact that boats attract import duties of 30 per cent in India as compared to 110 per cent laid on cars. M&M’s entry into this segment marks the first-ever foray of a major Indian industrial group into the leisure boating industry.

“Mahindra Odyssea marks the advent of a new journey for Mahindra which now has a presence in almost every segment of the transport ecosystem. Our country’s vast coastline and water bodies represent significant untapped potential for both water transport and marine based leisure activities,” said Mr Anand Mahindra, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, in a statement.

Coast Guard and Navy is expected form part of the clientele of Mahindra Ocean Blue. There are a good number of individual and corporate customers too.