Kolkata, Oct 14 (IANS): Homegrown automotive company Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is planning to double its market share in the heavy commercial vehicles within two to three years, a company official said on Wednesday.

"We have been a new entrant in the heavy commercial vehicles space and look forward to double our market share," the company's executive editor Pawan Goenka told media persons here.

Its present market share in the segment is 2.6-2.7 percent which the company hopes to increase to 5-6 percent by 2018.

The company will invest Rs.500 crore to develop new truck models as well as upgrade existing ones. Off this investment, Rs.300 crore have been earmarked for new product development.

While it has a presence in the 5-7-tonne truck segment, its products are in need of upgradation whereas it is entirely absent in the 9-16-tonne trucks space.

The new truck models will be made available 2017 onwards.

On a consolidated basis, the company normally invests Rs.2,500 crore each year on the automotive and tractors space for products and factories development as well as on research projects, he said.

In the utility vehicles segment, it has targeted to capture another 3-4 percent market share from the existing 35-36 percent.