MOSL: THE CORNER OFFICE—Mahindra & Mahindra-Getting set for bigger play in Farm business, and recovery in UVs

​THE CORNER OFFICE—Mahindra & Mahindra: Getting set for bigger play in Farm business, and recovery in UVs

Dr Pawan Goenka joined Mahindra in 1993 with the research and development division. Prior to his appointment at M&M, Dr Goenka worked for 14 years at General Motors (Detroit). He is a fellow of the Society of Automobile Engineers (International) and the Indian National Academy of Engineers. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the IIT, Kanpur; a PhD from Cornell University, USA; and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

• For Mahindra & Mahindra (MM), FY17 is a year of contrasting fortunes – highest-ever market share in Tractors and lowest-ever in UVs. Against this backdrop, we met with Dr Pawan Goenka (MD) and senior management team of MM to discuss, among other things, (i) the company’s strategy to recover the lost market share in UVs, (ii) strategy to maintain market share in Tractors and (iii) emerging opportunities and challenges in both UVs and Tractors. Key takeaways:
  

Changing landscape in UVs and Tractors: Dr Goenka highlighted how the business dynamics are changing in both its key businesses. Critical success elements of the past – product, cost and distribution – have become hygiene factors now, while new success factors have emerged in the form of a) solutions, b) experience and c) purpose. MM is re-aligning itself to adapt to the changing landscape, and believes it is relatively well placed due to synergies within the company (Ssangyong, North American Technical Centre and Mahindra Research Valley Chennai) and the group (Pininfarina and Tech Mahindra) [Exhibit 1, 2 and 3].