Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the homegrown auto group Mahindra & Mahindra, on Wednesday admitted that entering the commuter bike segment more than a decade ago was a failure on the part of the group.

The group entered two-wheelers after buying out Kinetic Motors in July 2008 and relaunched the 'Freedom' bikes under the label of 'Mojo' but has not been able to make a mark in the vastly entry-model driven two-wheeler space in the country even after a decade.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) slipped 2 per cent to Rs 512 on the BSE on Friday and was trading close to its 52-week low level. The car & utility vehicles maker's stock is less than 2 per cent away from its 52-week low price of Rs 503, touched on August 14, in intra-day trade.

In past one month, M&M has underperformed the market by falling 12 per cent as the company's tractor sales delivered disappointing performance.

The move, it said, "reaffirms the commitment" of the group to future growth of the French company. The subsidiary currently holds 51 per cent in PMTC. It entered into the collaboration with PMTC, part of Groupe PSA in January 2015.

Homegrown auto major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) on Tuesday reported a 21 per cent decline in total sales at 43,343 units in September.

The company had sold 55,022 units in the corresponding month last year, M&M said in a regulatory filing.

Under this scheme, Mahindra's vehicles in Delhi (NCR), Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad will be available at a subscription price starting from Rs 19,720 per month.

M&M had in late May announced its plan to invest ` 18,000 crore over the next three years, including `12,000 crore towards capital expenditure and `6,000 crore in its subsidiaries.

Pawan Goenka, managing director, M&M, told reporters that the company has retrenched about 1,500 temporary workers since April 1 this year.

The Indian carmaker has set up a joint venture with Ideal Motors, its dealer partner in Sri Lanka for 10 years. The 65:35 JV between Ideal Motors and M&M is christened Mahindra Ideal Lanka Private Limited, which will operate the assembly plant at Welipenna, about 60 km from Colombo.