India's largest utility vehicle major Mahindra and Mahindra ( M&M) is preparing for the long haul, to take a fresh guard by reviving its entire two-wheeler business. The move gathers momentum as the company bids to capture a slice of it in one of the world's fastest growing two-wheeler markets.
A year-and-half after withdrawing its first motorcycle Stallio from the domestic market due to engineering glitches, the company has restructured its entire business right from its R&D, manufacturing, marketing set up and its product portfolio for the future.
M&M is infusing over Rs 500 crore of fresh funds into the two-wheeler business, which will go into setting up of a strong domestic R&D centre led by PS Ashok, the key man behind the LML two-wheeler business. It has already set up all new assembly lines for scooters and motorcycles at its Pithampur plant with a capacity of 1 million units.
Anoop Mathur, president, two-wheeler division, Mahindra & Mahindra, told, 'We have been in the two-wheeler industry and will continue to invest in it. Over the last couple of years, we have significantly strengthened our fundamentals like a cutting-edge R&D facility and upgraded manufacturing capacity.'
Under PS Ashok, the company has already set up a strong team of 160 engineers, which it claims is the third-largest R&D setup in the country in the domestic two-wheeler industry.
Viren Popli, senior VP, strategy & market development, two-wheelers said, the company has already got approval from the board on the future investment and they have a product portfolio plan in place of 10-12 vehicles which will be across categories, as part of its mission statement till 2015-16.
And this is just the first of several moves the company is planning. The company plans to re-launch Stallio in the next few months and has three more products, including another motorcycle and scooter, in the offing in FY13, which will help it build its falling volumes. Mojo, the premium motorcycle, too should be launched in 12-18 months time.
The company inherited a dated R&D set up from the Kinetic acquisition and over the years it put together an ecosystem of international R&D companies, which it now admits, didn't work.
'We were quiet for more than a year, as we were busy putting in place the infrastructure required for future growth. Having an international R&D capability alone was not enough; we needed the strong in-house capability which has now put in place. Translating international design for Indian use needed a lot of work, which was one of the challenges we had with the Stallio. We are now designing in India for India,' said Popli.
M&M acquired Kinetic Motors in 2008 for an acquisition price of around Rs100 crore, but since then it has infused over Rs500-800 crore in the business, yet it is incurring losses.
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A year-and-half after withdrawing its first motorcycle Stallio from the domestic market due to engineering glitches, the company has restructured its entire business right from its R&D, manufacturing, marketing set up and its product portfolio for the future.
M&M is infusing over Rs 500 crore of fresh funds into the two-wheeler business, which will go into setting up of a strong domestic R&D centre led by PS Ashok, the key man behind the LML two-wheeler business. It has already set up all new assembly lines for scooters and motorcycles at its Pithampur plant with a capacity of 1 million units.
Anoop Mathur, president, two-wheeler division, Mahindra & Mahindra, told, 'We have been in the two-wheeler industry and will continue to invest in it. Over the last couple of years, we have significantly strengthened our fundamentals like a cutting-edge R&D facility and upgraded manufacturing capacity.'
Under PS Ashok, the company has already set up a strong team of 160 engineers, which it claims is the third-largest R&D setup in the country in the domestic two-wheeler industry.
Viren Popli, senior VP, strategy & market development, two-wheelers said, the company has already got approval from the board on the future investment and they have a product portfolio plan in place of 10-12 vehicles which will be across categories, as part of its mission statement till 2015-16.
And this is just the first of several moves the company is planning. The company plans to re-launch Stallio in the next few months and has three more products, including another motorcycle and scooter, in the offing in FY13, which will help it build its falling volumes. Mojo, the premium motorcycle, too should be launched in 12-18 months time.
The company inherited a dated R&D set up from the Kinetic acquisition and over the years it put together an ecosystem of international R&D companies, which it now admits, didn't work.
'We were quiet for more than a year, as we were busy putting in place the infrastructure required for future growth. Having an international R&D capability alone was not enough; we needed the strong in-house capability which has now put in place. Translating international design for Indian use needed a lot of work, which was one of the challenges we had with the Stallio. We are now designing in India for India,' said Popli.
M&M acquired Kinetic Motors in 2008 for an acquisition price of around Rs100 crore, but since then it has infused over Rs500-800 crore in the business, yet it is incurring losses.
....more info