Mahindra & Mahindra Limited

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Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
Type Private Listed Company
Founded 1945
Headquarters Mumbai
Key people Keshub Mahindra (Chairman), Anand G.Mahindra (Vice-Chairman & Managing Director)
Industry Automotive
Products utility vehicles
commercial vehicles
tractors
Revenue US$ 4.5 billion (2007)[1]
Employees 13,000[2]
Website www.mahindra.com/
1970s domestic market FC-160
1970s domestic market FC-160
Mahindra Scorpio
Mahindra Scorpio
Mahindra Jeep cj 340
Mahindra Jeep cj 340
Mahindra mm 540 dp
Mahindra mm 540 dp


Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is a major automaker in India. It is the flagship strategic business unit of the Mahindra Group. The company was set up in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed.[3] Later, after the partition of India, Mr. Ghulam Muhammad migrated to Pakistan and became that nation's first finance minister. Hence, the name was changed from Mahindra & Mohammed to Mahindra & Mahindra in 1948. The company first traded steel with suppliers in England and the United States. Real business activity of M&M began by assembling complete knock down (CKD) Jeeps in 1949.[4] the company expanded to indigenous manufacture of Jeep vehicles with a high level of local content under license from Kaiser Jeep and later American Motors (AMC).

M&M soon branched out into manufacturing agricultural tractors and light commercial vehicles (LCVs). It later expanded its operations to secure a significant presence in many more important sectors. The company has now transformed itself into a group of business units that caters to the Indian and overseas markets with a presence in vehicles, farm equipment, information technology, trade and finance related services, as well as infrastructure development.

By 2005, M&M had become the largest producer of SUVs in India. The company has recently started a separate sector, the Mahindra Systems and Automotive Technologies (MSAT), to focus on developing components and offering engineering services.

Contents

[edit] Business

The M&M is comprised of the Automotive Sector, the Farm Equipment Sector, and the Systems & Technologies Sector. It is a leading manufacturer of Multi-Utility Vehicles (MUV) and tractors.

The company completed 60 years of business in 2005. Originally awarded a contract in 1942 in India from the U.S. Willys firm for military Jeep production during WWII. This evolved into manufacturing of general-purpose utility vehicles for the Indian and other world markets in 1945, M&M first became well known as the maker of one of the original U.S. designed Jeeps in India. Mahindra continued to build the original Willys designed Jeep CJ3B in India up to present day and now has some updated designs as well. Most Mahindra built Jeeps were using built using small, efficient diesel engines from various other automobile companies such a Peugeot, a French company.

Mahindra & Mahindra rapidly grew from being a maker of army vehicles to a major automobile and tractor manufacturer with a growing global appetite. M&M initiated a process of product enhancement and globalization. It made strategic acquisitions of plants in China and the United Kingdom, and has three assembly plants in the USA. M&M has partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France, Nissan and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA.

M&M made its entry into the passenger car segment with Logan in April 2007 under the Mahindra Renault JV. M&M will make its maiden entry into the heavy trucks segment with Mahindra International, the joint venture with International Truck, USA.

M&M’s Automotive Sector makes a wide rage of vehicles including MUVs, LCVs and three wheelers. M&M is the largest manufacturer of MUVs, offering over 20 models including new generation multi-utility vehicles like the Scorpio and the Bolero. The company is a market leader in the Utility Vehicle segment.

M&M's products are being exported to the USA, Russia and several other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc., Mahindra South Africa and Mahindra (China) Tractor Co. Ltd. However, no M&M product has yet been certified for use on public roads in the United States, due to the stringent emissions and crash standards that vehicles must meet to pass federal standards.

Mahindra Farm Equipment Sector has come to be recognized as a powerful symbol of productivity and performance. M&M is the third largest tractor company in the world. It is also the largest manufacturer of tractors in India with sustained market leadership of around 24 years. It designs, develops, manufactures and markets tractors as well as farm implements. The Sector has also found significant success in the international market. Mahindra (China) Tractor Co. Ltd. manufactures tractors for the growing Chinese market and is a hub for tractor exports to the USA and other western nations. M&M has a 100% subsidiary, Mahindra USA, where it assembles products for the American market. FES received the coveted Deming Application Prize for manufacturing in 2003, for establishing Total Quality Management in all operations. M&M Ltd. is the only tractor company in the world to have achieved this honor.

Formed in 2004, by M&M, Systech Sector is a response to the increasingly competitive automotive components industry. Providing an extensive range of services from design to delivery, Systech intends to create the world's most valuable and innovative auto components business by partnering with global customers to satisfy their business needs. Towards this goal, M&M has acquired three international companies in the forging space -- Stokes Forgings in the UK, Jeco Holding AG, and Schöneweiss GmbH in Germany. Through these acquisitions and by finding value wherever it may be, Mahindra has created the fifth largest forging company in the world.

In early September 2007, it has been reported that the company is 'completing due diligence' in Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover units, although the company's preference is reportedly towards the utility car make rather than the luxury marque. However, as of December 2007, the company has reportedly pulled of the bidding, citing complexities.

Mahindra anounce that they bought an Italian auto design and engineering firm to help it increase its presence in overseas markets. Financial details of the deal to acquire Turin-based G.R.

Rumors of the talks between Mahindra and Chrysler, former partners in India, were reported in the Economic Times, one of India's major financial publications.

The family-owned Mahindra trading group got into the auto business during World War II as a contract assembler of the Willys Jeep, and later licensed production of the CJ series. Mahindra still builds a CJ-derived model called Commander in both soft-top and hardtop versions.

In recent months, Mahindra has been outbid by rival Indian automaker Tata for the right to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Mahindra also has withdrawn from a billion-dollar deal to assemble small cars in partnership with Renault-Nissan in Chennai. A Mahindra-Ford alliance in India was dissolved several years ago.

According to the Economic Times, Mahindra and Chrysler now are discussing several options, including one scenario that would see Mahindra doing some contract engineering work in India for the U.S. automaker, as well as the possibility of the companies exchanging equity stakes.

At the recent Delhi auto show, Mahindra executives said the company is pursuing an aggressive product expansion program that will 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 turbodiesel engine. Later in 2008, it will unveil the all-new Ingenio SUV, which will be joined in 2009 by a pickup derivative.

In the meantime, Mahindra is gearing up to sell versions of its older Scorpio SUV and pickup next year in North America, through an independent distributor, Global Vehicles USA, based in Alpharetta, Georgia. The distributor has said it may assemble the pickup, which will be rebranded as the Mahindra Appalachian, in Ohio from knocked-down kits to avoid a 25 percent tariff imposed on imported trucks. The company also has said it plans to offer a diesel-hybrid powertrain in 2010.

[edit] Models

[edit] Mahindra Group

[edit] Core Business Activities

[edit] Community Initiatives

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mahindra company profile, on Yahoo Business
  2. ^ Corporate Profile, Mahindra
  3. ^ Milestones to success. Mahindra. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
  4. ^ Milestones to success. Mahindra. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
  5. ^ India PR wire (April 2, 2007). "Mahindra Renault Launches Logan". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.

[edit] External links