this story originally appeared in on jul 2 2013jaipur mahindra mahindra has spruced up its motorcycle portfolio after a gap of about two years on monday with the launch of the centuro bike anand mahindra chairman of the 165billion mm group said mahindra 2 wheelers has learnt from its past mistakes and is betting on indigenous rd capability to take on japanese and indian rivals we have proven that the indigenous technology works he said when we entered the automotive business in 1990s there were lot of skeptics as to how would succeed without an international partner on our own look where we are i am still in front of you and it is 2013 admitting that the stopstart entry into motorcycles with the stallio motorcyclewhich was withdrawn within six months of launch in 201011 due to quality issues was a mistake mahindra said the company has since set up an rd centre in pune and has already investedrs 700 crore in the twowheeler business lessons you learn are more valuable what is critical for us is how quickly we learn from our mistakes the strategies are based on rational and we do have a right to win and thats why we are investing in two wheelers he said according to reports at the end of fiscal 201112 mahindra 2 wheelers accumulated losses stood at rs 527 crore based on the data available with registrar of companies data it posted a loss of rs 23834 crore in fy12 while total revenues in the same fiscal fell 145 tors 44307 crore from rs 51854 crore in fy11 the company however is confident of a longterm potential of the business and will continue to invest in it the company plans to launch 10 models including refreshes over the next two and half years just like the automotive business mahindra said the twowheeler business will carry forward the dna of rugged reliable feature packed and value for money offerings launched at an introductory price of rs 45000 exshowroom new delhi the centuro is positioned in the premium end of highly competitive 5 lakh units a month 110110 cc space mahindra twowheelers will offer the first 10000 bookings at rs 44000 it will take on hero motocorps passion pro bajaj autos discover t and honda motorcycles and scooters dream yuga the twowheeler business has not been a great going for the company in a market which was relatively flat in 201213 mahindra 2 wheelers sales fell more than 20 to 105537 units last fiscal despite launches of rodeo and duro with motorcycles it is hoping to comeback into the positive territory industry has been facing strong headwinds due to adverse macro economic factors and that has clearly impacted the industry and the impact on a new comer like us is more adverse we are looking at our customer inspired solution to overcome this tough situation by investing in new products and technologies anoop mathur president at mahindra 2 wheelers said