Mahindra & Mahindra


Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is an Indian multinational vehicle manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was established in 1945 as Muhammad & Mahindra and later renamed as Mahindra and Mahindra. It is one of the largest vehicle manufacturers by production in India and the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world. It is a part of the Mahindra Group, an Indian conglomerate. It was ranked 17th on a list of top companies in India by Fortune India 500 in 2018. Its major competitors in the Indian market include Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors.

History of Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra was founded as a steel trading company on October 2, 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Muhammed by brothers Harikrishnan and Jayakrishnan and Jagdish Chandra Mahindra along with Malik Ghulam Muhammad. Anand Mahindra, the present Chairman of Mahindra Group, is the grandson of Jagdish Chandra Mahindra. After India gained independence and Pakistan was formed, Muhammad emigrated to Pakistan. Muhammad acquired Pakistani citizenship and settled in Lahore, and in 1948 became Pakistan's first finance minister. Thereafter, the company changed its name to Mahindra & Mahindra in 1948. It eventually saw a business opportunity in expanding into manufacturing and selling larger MUVs, starting with the assembly under licence of the Willys Jeep in India. Soon, the company was established as the Jeep manufacturer in India, M&M later commenced manufacturing light commercial vehicles and agricultural tractors.
Over the past few years, the company has taken interest in new industries and in foreign markets. They entered the industry by taking over Kinetic Motors in India.
M&M took a 55% stake in the REVA Electric Car Company in 2010 and renamed it to Mahindra Electric in 2016 following taking 100% ownership.
South Korea's SsangYong Motor Company was acquired in 2011. In 2010–11 M&M entered into micro drip irrigation with the takeover of EPC Industries Ltd in Nashik.
In October 2014, Mahindra and Mahindra acquired a 51% controlling stake in Peugeot Motocycles and acquired a 100% controlling stake in October 2019.
In December 2015, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and affiliate Tech Mahindra Ltd, through a special purpose vehicle, have agreed to buy a 76.06% stake in Italian car designer Pininfarina SpA, for €25.3 million.
In January 2017, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd acquired a 75.1 equity stake in Hisarlar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonym Şirketi, a farm equipment company, marking its entry into Turkey and in September 2017 acquired another Turkish tractor and foundry business Erkunt Traktor Sanayii AS for ₹800 crore.
In October 2019, Mahindra entered into a joint venture with Ford by establishing Ford India in which Mahindra & Mahindra acquired a controlling 51% stake.
In April 2020, the company ended its joint venture with Renault, with Mahindra & Mahindra buying out Renault's stake. Renault continues to license and supply key components such as engines and transmissions to Mahindra & Mahindra.

Operations and products

Automobiles

Mahindra & Mahindra, brands its products as "Mahindra", produces SUVs, saloon cars, pickups, lightweight commercial vehicles, heavyweight commercial vehicles, two wheeled motorcycles and tractors. Mahindra maintains business relations with foreign companies like Renault SA, France.
M&M has a global presence and its products are exported to several countries. Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe S.r.l. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc., Mahindra South Africa and Mahindra Tractor Co. Ltd. In 2015, Mahindra reentered the Philippine market after a brief presence in 1990s
Mahindra began assembling the Jeep CJ3 in 1954, and light commercial vehicles in 1965. In 1979 the licensed assembly of Peugeot diesel four-cylinder engines and transmissions began, and in 1982 a tie-up with Kia Motors to build their four-speed KMT90 transmission and transfer case was announced. Mahindra's MM range was a mainstay of the lineup and was eventually also offered with a 1.8-liter Isuzu petrol engine in addition to International and Peugeot diesels. Mahindra started making passenger vehicles firstly with the Logan in April 2007 under the Mahindra Renault joint venture. M&M made its maiden entry into the heavy trucks segment with the Mahindra Truck and Bus Division, the joint venture with International Truck, USA.
Mahindra produces a wide range of vehicles, including MUVs, LCVs and three-wheelers. It manufactures over 20 models of cars, including larger, multi-utility vehicles like the Scorpio and the Bolero. It formerly had a joint venture with Ford called Ford India Private Limited to build passenger cars.
At the 2008 Delhi Auto Show, Mahindra executives said the company was pursuing an aggressive product expansion program that would see the launch of several new platforms and vehicles over the next three years, including an entry-level SUV designed to seat five passengers and powered by a small, turbocharged Diesel engine. True to their word, Mahindra & Mahindra launched the Mahindra Xylo in January 2009, selling over 15,000 units in its first six months.
Also in early 2008, Mahindra commenced its first overseas CKD operations with the launch of the Mahindra Scorpio in Egypt, in partnership with the Bavarian Auto Group. This was soon followed by assembly facilities in Brazil. Vehicles assembled at the plant in Bramont, Manaus, include Scorpio Pick-ups in single and double cab Pick-up body styles as well as SUVs.
Mahindra planned to sell the diesel SUVs and pickup trucks starting in late 2010 in North America through an independent distributor, Global Vehicles USA, based in Alpharetta, Georgia. Mahindra announced it would import pickup trucks from India in knockdown kit form to circumvent the Chicken tax. CKDs are complete vehicles that were assembled in the United States from kits of parts shipped in crates. On 18 October 2010, however, it was reported that Mahindra had indefinitely delayed the launch of vehicles into the North American market, citing legal issues between it and Global Vehicles after Mahindra retracted its contract with Global Vehicles earlier in 2010, due to a decision to sell the vehicles directly to consumers instead of through Global Vehicles. However, a November 2010 report quoted John Perez, the CEO of Global Vehicles USA, as estimating that he expected Mahindra's small Diesel pickups to go on sale in the United States by spring 2011, although legal complications remained, and Perez, while hopeful, admitted that arbitration could take more than a year. Later reports suggested that the delays may be due to Mahindra scrapping the original model of the truck and replacing it with an upgraded one before selling them to Americans. In June 2012, a mass tort lawsuit was filed against Mahindra by its American dealers, alleging the company of conspiracy and fraud.
Mahindra & Mahindra has a controlling stake in Mahindra REVA Electric Vehicles. In 2011, it also gained a controlling stake in South Korea's SsangYong Motor Company.
Mahindra launched its relatively heavily publicised SUV, XUV500, code named as W201 in September 2011. The new SUV by Mahindra was designed in-house and it was developed on the first global SUV platform that could be used for developing more SUVs. In India, the new Mahindra XUV 500 came in a price range between –1,500,000. The company was expected to launch three products in 2015 and an XUV 500 hybrid. Mahindra's two wheeler segment launched a new scooter in the first quarter of 2015. Besides India, the company also targeted Europe, Africa, Australia and Latin America for this model. Mahindra President Mr. Pawan Goenka stated that the company planned to launch six new models in the year. The company launched the CNG version of its mini truck Maxximo on 29 June 2012. A new version of the Verito in Diesel and petrol options was launched by the company on 26 July 2012 to compete with Maruti's Dzire and Toyota Kirloskar Motor's Etios.
On 30 July 2015, Mahindra released sketches of a new compact SUV called the TUV300 slated to be launched on 10 September 2015. The TUV300 design took cues from a battle tank and used a downsized version of the mHawk engine found on the XUV500, Scorpio and some models of the Xylo. This new engine was dubbed the mHawk80.
Mahindra has also entered an app based intra-city cargo platform known as SMARTSHIFT, a first-of-its-kind load exchange platform for Small commercial vehicles. It enable's businessmen who wish to transport cargo & transporters to find each other. The platform enables contact, negotiation & sealing the deal between the two parties at just the click of a button!
Mahindra Automotive North America, the company's U.S. subsidiary, opened a car manufacturing plant in Detroit, Michigan on 20 November 2017. The plant employs 250 people, and is the first automotive production facility to open in Detroit in 25 years. The first product from the new facility was launched on March 2, 2018 as the Mahindra Roxor. In September 3 Mahindra Marazzo was launched.

List of Mahindra models

Military defence

The company has built and assembled military vehicles, commencing in 1947 with the importation of the Willys Jeep that had been widely used in World War II. Its line of military vehicles include the Axe. It also maintains a joint venture with BAE Systems, Defence Land Systems India.

Energy

Mahindra & Mahindra entered the energy sector in 2002, in response to growing demands for increased electric power in India.
Since then, more than 150,000 Mahindra Powerol engines and Diesel generator sets have been installed in India. The inverters, batteries, and gensets are manufactured at three facilities in Pune, Chennai, and Delhi; and 160 service points across India offer continuous support to most key markets. Powerol is present in countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia—and expanding into the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Mahindra Powerol's energy services consist mostly of power leasing and telecom infrastructure management. In 2006, it became a major market leader in the telecom segment.
Mahindra Cleantech Ltd focuses in eco-friendly, or "green" power. In response to growing acceptance of solar power, it formed a subsidiary, Mahindra Solar, in 2010 to offer a range of solar systems, both off grid and on grid, alongside Engineering, Procurement, and Construction.
Mahindra EPC is the engineering procurement and construction arm of the Mahindra group. A portfolio company under the Cleantech arm of Mahindra Partners, they offer solar systems spanning On-Grid, EPC and Off-Grid products. The company commenced its operations in the year 2011 and has commissioned over 60 MW worth of Solar PV projects.
Meanwhile, its off-grid products include power packs and rooftop setups for business organisations and public institutions alongside rural electrification through lanterns and home and street lighting systems. The company works closely with Mahindra's farm equipment division to offer lighting products to some of the more rural areas in India. It also works with Mahindra Powerol to offer solar power backup to telecom sites in India. In 2011, Mahindra Solar received a CRISIL rating of SP1A in 2011, the highest rating for any solar photovaltaic off-grid company.

Farm equipment

Mahindra began manufacturing tractors for the Indian market during the early '60s. It is the top tractor company in the world with annual sales totaling more than 200,000 tractors. Since its inception, the company has sold over 2.1 million tractors. Mahindra & Mahindra's farm equipment division has over 1,000 dealers servicing approx. 1.45 million customers.
Mahindra tractors are available in 40 countries, including India, the United States, China, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe Tractor Company, and Mahindra Yueda Tractor Company.
In 2003, the Farm Equipment Sector of Mahindra & Mahindra won the Deming Application Prize and in 2007 it received the Japan Quality Medal for implementing Total Quality Management in its entire business operations. The company has garnered the highest customer satisfaction index in the industry at 88 percent. It earned a 2008 Golden Peacock Award in the Innovative Product/Services category for its in-house development of a load car. In its 2009 survey of Asia's 200 most admired and innovative companies, the Wall Street Journal named Mahindra & Mahindra one of the 10 most innovative Indian companies.
In addition to tractors, Mahindra sells other farm equipment. It has expanded its product-line to include farm-support services via Mahindra AppliTrac, Mahindra ShubhLabh, and the Samriddhi Initiative.
The Mahindra Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors, is one of the largest contributors to the Mahindra Group revenue and includes 27 businesses, 18 subsidiaries and 9 companies.
The Automotive business accounts for about 48% of India's utility vehicle market share and is the number two CV player in India. The business has a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry with SUVs, luxury UVs, sedans, pick-ups, light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles to three-wheelers. Their customer base spans rural and urban India.
The Farm Equipment department also provides irrigation, fertilization, seeds through varied agriculture and allied businesses.

Factories

Engines and transmissions

Most commercial and passenger vehicles made by the company follow the rule of ending with an 'O', like in Scorpio, Verito and XUV500. In 2013, the company's president Pawan Goenka confirmed that this was after the success of Bolero and Scorpio, the company thought the ‘O’ at the end of the vehicle was lucky and it has become a tradition.

Employees

As at 31 March 2018, the company had 41,673 employees, 20,806 of whom were temporary employees, apprentices and trainees. It also had 690 permanent female employees on the same date.

Awards and recognitions