India's Mahindra & Mahindra beats quarterly profit view on strong SUV, tractor demand (updated)

Mahindra And Mahindra

05/05/2026 08:02

Rewrites throughout with management's comments

By Kashish Tandon

May 5 (Reuters) -
Thar-maker Mahindra & Mahindra < MAHM.NS> forecast mid-to-high teens percentage growth in SUV volumes this fiscal year on Tuesday, brushing off concerns over the Iran war as tax-cut-led demand and capacity additions helped it beat quarterly estimates.

     The Indian automaker has been among the biggest beneficiaries of a sustained shift towards sport utility vehicles in the country, allowing it to outperform rivals Maruti Suzuki MRTI.NS and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles TAMO.NS.

Mahindra, which commands about 23% of India's SUV market, reported a 23.3% rise in domestic SUV volumes in the March quarter despite intensifying competition. Volumes rose about 20% for the full fiscal year.

Vehicle sales in India have picked up since New Delhi cut taxes last September, boosting showroom footfalls and supporting pricing power.

Maruti Suzuki said last week it would
invest $1.48 billion
 to add 500,000 units of capacity in fiscal 2027.

Mahindra plans to add 68,000 units of annual capacity by the end of fiscal 2027 and a further 14,000 units by fiscal 2028 including for new electric vehicle launches, said Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director and CEO of Mahindra’s auto and farm businesses.

"We are targeting mid‑to‑high teens growth in fiscal 2027 and are putting manufacturing capacities in place to support that," Jejurikar said.

 The automaker also downplayed risks from the ongoing Iran war.

 "Geopolitical developments and inflationary pressures are things we expect to be temporary. They may or may not impact in certain quarters," Amarjyoti Barua, Mahindra’s group chief financial officer, said.

 Mahindra earlier reported a standalone profit after tax of 37.37 billion rupees ($391.9 million) for the quarter ended March 31, up from 24.37 billion rupees a year earlier and above analysts’ estimates of 34.32 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

 Revenue rose 26.2% to 395.54 billion rupees, also beating estimates.

($1 = 95.3588 Indian rupees)

Mahindra & Mahindra down nearly 16% year-to-date https://reut.rs/4tC9WBn

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((Kashish.Tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922;))