Mahindra Buys Peugeot Scooters Division

While this news may seem of little significance to the US motorcycle market, it won't be for long. India-based car and mini-SUV maker Mahindra is out shopping again in Europe. Four years ago, Mahindra acquired Engines Engineering, a small Bologna-based shop specializing in R&D work and prototyping vehicles for production and for racing. In fact, Engines Engineering is responsible for the development and realization of the Mahindra Moto3 racer, which is doing fairly well.

By acquiring the majority of Peugeot Motorcycles’ stock for a cool 15 million euros (approximately $17 million), Mahindra has now solidly set foot on European ground. More important, it has acquired the production potential it still needed, even though the company already had a cooperative agreement with established Taiwanese scooter specialist Sanyang Industry Co.

With Peugeot Motorcycles, Mahindra now has access to a whole range of scooter models and advanced engines ranging in displacements from 50 to 400cc. Also, the production of the electric GenZe scooter (photo above)—which is built in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by an American subsidiary of the Mahindra Group—may get a boost from this news.