Lamborghini is celebrating the production of its 400^th Huracán model from its headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, where all Lamborghinis, both road and racing, have been produced since 1963.

This milestone was recognised at a special event, which was attended by Stephan Winkelmann (President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini), Maurizio Reggiani (Chief Technical Officer), Ranieri Niccoli (Chief Manufacturing Officer) and Giorgio Sanna (Head of Motorsport). They were joined by the various technicians who build both the Huracán Super Trofeo Evo and GT3 Evo every day.

• Since 2014, 400 Huracán Super Trofeo and GT3s have been produced alongside the road cars in Sant’Agata, Bolognese, Italy.
• In just six seasons, the Huracán GT3 has won nearly 100 races in the most prestigious GT championships in the world.

The first Huracán Super Trofeo was presented in 2014, replacing the Gallardo as the car of choice in Lamborghini’s single-make championship in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The following year, the Huracán GT3 made its debut, marking Lamborghini’s official entry into GT racing.

Over the next six seasons, the Huracán GT3, and its successor the GT3 Evo, have won nearly 100 races, including the prestigious Daytona 24 Hours a record three consecutive times. The GT3 Evo has also won the coveted Sebring 12 Hours twice as well as the “triple crown” of the GT World Challenge Europe in 2019. In 2020 alone, the Huracán GT3 Evos were represented by 24 different teams, in 15 national and international championships and covered a total of 20,000km across 88 different drivers.

Stephan Winkelmann, President & CEO, Automobili Lamborghini, said, "We are proud of the milestone, which is important not only for Squadra Corse but for the whole company. In a few years Squadra Corse has established itself in the most important international competitions and the Huracán GT3 and Super Trofeo are an undisputed point of reference in the Gran Turismo category.” (MT)

Mumbai-headquartered automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra has announced its financial results for FY2025 with revenue of INR 1,592 billion, up 14 percent YoY and a net profit of INR 129 billion, up 20 percent YoY.

The robust financial performance was underpinned by strong automotive sales across key segments. Mahindra stated it continue to top the SUV sales with a revenue market share of 22.5 percent. Furthermore, the OEM held the top spot in the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment under 3.5 tonnes, commanding a market share of 51.9 percent. The Tractor division also achieved its highest ever full-year market share at 43.3 percent.

Going forward, the company continues to maintain an optimistic outlook for SUV and EV sales. In fact, Mahindra is set to increase its manufacturing capacity for XUV 3X0 and Thar Roxx by 3,000 units, a new platform capacity in Chakan for 120,000 units per annum and a new greenfield facility by FY2028, which will primarily focus on the passenger vehicle segment. The company is also looking at different states and the kind of incentives it gets, before finalising the location.  

“Our current capacity utilisation on the SUV side is almost over 90 percent with Scorpio very close to capacity, Thar Roxx and 3X0 fully on capacity and Bolero is lesser in capacity,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director & CEO – Auto and Farm Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra.

Furthermore, the company’s born electric platform, which has spawned the BE 6 and XEV 9e has recently crossed the 6,300 sales mark. At present, the EVs have around 40,000 bookings with an average waiting time of 4-5 months.

Jejurikar explained that an EV customer usually sees around 2 hours of discussion time at the dealership, which is significantly higher than that of an ICE-vehicle customer.

“There's also work to be done by way of enabling charging infrastructure to be facilitated, set up, which means working with their societies or their office complexes wherever they want the charger and all of that needs to be coordinated well and then there's an installation process to be done at home. We have seen that this process is very important to customers to make sure that the experience is very seamless. As we think about ramping up, this is an added thing over and above the input quality which of course is a very important parameter because there is a lot of high tech and so we want to be very calibrated in the way we ramp up. As we have said earlier, that even though we have capacity, we are not operationalising all of that,” added Jejurikar.

A significant highlight was the positive performance of Mahindra's EV division. The company reported being EBITDA positive in the first quarter of the fiscal year within its EV segment, even without considering certain incentives (PLI). This achievement was attributed to a favourable variant mix. While celebrating this milestone, the company cautioned that achieving EBIT margin positivity in the EV sector is anticipated to take several quarters, potentially extending to a year or 18 months. This timeline reflects the ongoing investments required to scale up their EV operations, for which incentives are intended to provide support. The company anticipates that significant EBITDA positivity in the EV segment will become more pronounced as production volume increases.

On the other hand, responding to slowdown in the passenger vehicle sales, Jejurikar stated, “I think there are several enablers which will start kicking in – government spending, infrastructure spending, all of that which will lead to demand picking up. The smaller segments will start gaining out of the income tax benefit that will start kicking in from the front. We think that will be an enabler as well as interest rates come down over time, I think that will be another positive enabler. I do think that over the next few months, the sentiment will start kicking up. But it's a world with a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Multiple things are happening around the world so we don't see any uncertainty that comes out of that.  But, overall I think many macroeconomic factors are positive.”

Dr Anish Shah, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, added, “I just want to reflect on the numbers – both revenue growth and bank growth – where the stress isn't particularly visible. Yes, there is some level of commercial urban stress, but from our product standpoint, we haven't seen significant impact. Even when we look across other businesses, overall, the picture remains positive. The recent actions around liquidity and interest rates should start to drive greater demand and improved functionality. So, on balance, I’d say we aren’t seeing substantial urban stress at this point – perhaps a slight slowdown or a temporary blip, but nothing major. I believe that's something we’ll bounce back from.”

Looking beyond the domestic market, Mahindra expressed considerable optimism regarding its expansion in North America. The launch of the OJA tractor series in the North American market is reported to be gaining significant traction. Specifically, in the less than 110 horsepower tractor segment, where Mahindra has a strong presence, their retail market share has reportedly surged from 3 percent to 10 percent over the past four months. This sub-110 horsepower category constitutes a substantial 40 percent of the total market volume. This significant growth in their key segment underscores the strategic importance of the OTA series and justifies the investments made in its creation.

Responding to a question regarding potential entry into the insurance market, a Dr Shah stated that this has been under consideration for several years. While acknowledging the complementary nature of their existing business and the large market size, he indicated that any entry would be contingent on identifying a suitable approach that ensures successful returns. But no immediate plans for entering the insurance sector were announced.

Going forward, Mahindra is said to be open to new partnerships and acquisitions.

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India (SAVWIPL) has announced key leadership changes as part of its ongoing localisation and growth strategy.

Ashish Gupta, currently Brand Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, will take over as Brand Director of Skoda India from 1 May 2025, succeeding Petr Janeba, who returns to Skoda Auto in the Czech Republic.

Gupta brings over 20 years of automotive experience, including five years leading the Volkswagen brand in India. Nitin Kohli, currently with Audi India, will step into Gupta’s role as Brand Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars. Kohli has over 25 years in automotive sales, including 12 with SAVWIPL.

“These changes reaffirm our focus on nurturing Indian leadership talent and staying agile in a dynamic market,” said Piyush Arora, CEO & MD, SAVWIPL. “Ashish and Nitin are well-positioned to lead Skoda and Volkswagen into their next growth phase.”

Jan Bures, Board Member and Executive Director, Sales, Marketing & Digital, SAVWIPL, said, “Ashish and Nitin have consistently delivered impact with agility and customer-centric thinking. Their appointment is not just a leadership change; it signals a broader shift in how we are building resilient, future-ready teams from within India. We are confident that both Ashish and Nitin will bring renewed energy and direction to the journeys of Skoda and Volkswagen.”

The transition is aligned with SAVWIPL’s broader efforts to strengthen local capabilities and drive future-ready brand strategies in India.

Mumbai-based automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra has announced its wholesales for April 2025 at 84,170 vehicles, a growth of 19 percent, including exports.

The auto major sold a total of 52,330 SUVs in the domestic market, which was 28 percent higher than 41,008 SUVs sold for the same period last year. Commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market came at 22,989 units, which was 4 percent YoY. 

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “Building on the strong momentum of last year's performance, we began the year on a strong note in April by achieving SUV sales of 52,330 units, a growth of 28 percent and total vehicle sales of 84,170 units, a 19 percent growth over the same month last year. These numbers indicate the strength of our portfolio and customer offerings.”

JSW MG Motor India, a leading passenger vehicles manufacturer, has announced its wholesales for April 2025.

The company reported sales of 5,829 units, which was 23 percent higher over April 2024, when it sold 4,725 vehicles.

Interestingly, the automaker's popular offering, the Windsor EV, has continued to be the top-selling electric passenger vehicle for the seventh month in a row.

JSW MG Motor India's Windsor EV has now gone home to over 20,000 customers.