Mahindra and Mahindra vice-chairman and MD Anand Mahindra in Nashik on Monday. (Reuters)

Nashik, March 13: Multi-utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra, which rolled out its all-new Scorpio today, plans to invest over Rs 100 crore to ramp up the overall production capacity at its Nashik plant and set up lines for the Logan ? the new mid-sized car from the Renault stable.

?The company will raise the overall production capacity at the Nashik plant from 330 vehicles per month to 570 over the next two years,? said Pawan Goenka, M&M?s president (automotive sector).

The Scorpio production alone is set to rise from 132 vehicles a month to 180. The company also manufactures the Bolero at its Nashik facility.

M&M plans to launch the Logan sometime in 2007 and formed a 51:49 joint venture with Renault of France last year.

As an introductory offer, all three diesel variants of the new Scorpio will be available at current prices. ?There will be no change at least for the next month-and-a-half,? said Goenka. ?We, however, cannot disclose by how much the prices will rise after that period.?

Powered by a 2.6-litre CRDi engine, the new Scorpio, which will be available in seven, eight, and nine-seater capacities, will sport price tags in the range of Rs 7.6 lakh to Rs 8.8 lakh.

The company has invested Rs 30 crore in developing this vehicle at its Nashik facility. This is against Rs 600 crore it invested in 2002 when the Scorpio was first launched in the domestic automobile market.

Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of M&M, said the company had stopped production of its existing Scorpio range in late February.

?Our inventories have only eight-day stocks in the pipeline. We will offer some discount to sell them,? he said without saying what the price cut would be.

The Scorpio has incorporated 43 changes in its features. The vehicle now rides on a five-zone rear suspension fine-tuned by Lotus Engineering. This feature, coupled with tubeless tyres, which is standard across all models, is designed for comfort and easy handling.

The all-new Scorpio has more aggressive styling cues with the front grille and large clear lens headlamps now complemented by a sporty new scoop on the bonnet and a specially designed front bumper with air dams. The all-new tail lamp runs all the way to the top. The rear spoiler with integrated brake light is a standard feature across all models. The Scorpio?s side profile is now distinguished by newly designed footsteps, which are integrated with the body. Ski racks add to the style statement.

The Scorpio will be launched in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore on March 17 followed by Calcutta and Chennai on March 21. There will be a phased rollout across the country from April.