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Mahindra & Mahindra has raised its investment forecast for the next three years by 20%, as the SUV and tractor manufacturer expects the current slowdown to end soon and growth to return strongly to the market. The Mumbai-based automaker will now invest Rs 18,000 crore during the fiscal 2020-22 period, compared with its previous plan of Rs 15,000 crore. This will be towards capacity expansion, adding new products to both its farm and automotive portfolios and to make investments in areas where it sees opportunities. “To plan for the short term, say one quarter, is always very difficult. However, when there is 7% growth in GDP expected, it calls about a certain amount of investment,” group chief financial officer VS Parthasarthy said. The company that declared its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday also predicted better growth in both passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle segments than the forecast of 3-5% and 10-12%, respectively, by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers for fiscal 2020. Mahindra estimates the tractor industry to grow 5% in the current fiscal year. About three years back, Mahindra had spoken about the Phase 2 investment at its Chakan facility on the outskirts of Pune, Maharashtra, which is currently underway. This will call for Rs 4,000-5,000 crore investment. “Others may review their investment, but at least Mahindra is not slowing down,” managing director Pawan Goenka told ET. “We are, in fact, increasing our capex and investment by 20% over a three-year cycle. We have not slowed down on our products development, we are working as aggressively as we have in the past on new product launches,” added Goenka. While this calendar year Mahindra’s automotive division is focused on a smooth transition to Bharat Stage VI emission standards, which will come into force in April next year, it plans to reignite its product action plans by FY-21. A new C-segment SUV, currently codenamed W601, will be manufactured out of the Chakan plant, which will also produce another variant of the vehicle for Ford, with which Mahindra has a product-sharing agreement. The company said it is adding a new press line, a paint factory that can handle 3 lakh units a year and a trim chassis final line at Chakan. Goenka said the investment in product development on tractors in the next three years would be more than the investment the company made in the segment over the past five years. On the tractor side, the company is close to deciding on a new manufacturing line.