Chennai, Sep 2 (IANS) Automotive major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is planning to launch a passenger variant of its recently launched mini truck Maxximo.

'We are planning several variants to Maxximo, including a passenger carrying one. One of the variants will be launched in 12 months time,' Chief Executive (Automotive Division) Rajesh Jejurikar told reporters here Thursday.

Rival Tata Motors has the Magic model, the passenger carrying variant to its hugely popular mini truck Ace.

Buoyed with the 23 percent market share for Maxximo, the company is in the process of ramping up the model's production capacity.

'We will start rolling out around 3,000 units per month from our plant in Chakan in Maharashtra. The current production is 2,000 units per month. There is no major investment involved in production ramp up,' Jejurikar said.

He said the company has sold around 14,000 units of Maxximo ever since it was launched couple of months ago.

'Tamil Nadu accounts for 20 percent of the mini-truck market. We wanted to be sure with our product before launching the model here,' he said.

According to Senior Vice President (Automotive Division) Arun Malhotra, last year the all India mini truck (carrying capacity 0.75-1 tonne) category was nearly 11,000 units per month and it is expected to grow by 30 percent annually to 14,000 units per month this year.

Priced at Rs.303,000, the Maxximo has a carrying capacity of 850 kg and claims to offer a fuel economy of 20 km per litre.

The vehicle's load capacity is 100 kg higher than that of Tata Motor's Ace model.