International Business
From India to the world.
Born around the same time as independent India, Mahindra is like a microcosm of the country of its birth. Indeed, few groups can identify as closely with India’s destiny and industrial progress as the Mahindra Group.
Founded in 1945 as a steel trading company, we entered automotive manufacturing in 1947 to bring the iconic Willys Jeep onto Indian roads. Over the years, we’ve diversified into many new businesses in order to better meet the needs of our customers. We follow a unique business model of creating empowered companies that enjoy the best of entrepreneurial independence and Group-wide synergies. This principle has led our growth into a US $16.5 billion multinational group with more than 2,00,000 employees in over 100 countries across the globe.
Today, our operations span 18 key industries that form the foundation of every modern economy: aerospace, aftermarket, agribusiness, automotive, components, construction equipment, consulting services, defense, energy, farm equipment, finance and insurance, industrial equipment, information technology, leisure and hospitality, logistics, real estate, retail, and two wheelers.
Our federated structure enables each business to chart its own future and simultaneously leverage synergies across the entire Group’s competencies. In this way, the diversity of our expertise allows us to bring our customers the best in many fields.
Reaching out to the world – a global timeline.
1969 – Mahindra establishes its export division with its first order of 600 jeeps for the Yugoslavian market. And this begin Mahindra Journey for expanding its global footprint.
1970‘s – Mahindra begins exporting vehicles to Nigeria and other African countries. Today, the company has a presence in almost 15 markets in Africa. It was also during the 70’s that Mahindra concluded exports of about 3300 units, mainly to Indonesia and Yugoslavia
1980‘s – Mahindra exports its CJ 5 model as CKD units to Iran where it is sold under the brand name of Sahara
1990‘s – Mahindra begins exporting to Nepal in the early 90’s and today, the mountain kingdom is one of Mahindra’s key markets in neighbouring countries CBU exports in Ro-Ro shipment was made to Ceylon , Kenya , Namibia, Mozambique in Africa.
Circa 2000 – The Bolero is launched, further transforming the image of the company with its contemporary looks and style. Mahindra increased its global aspirations and expanded further afield. It was during this decade that Mahindra’s export division gained further momentum.
The winds of change were blowing through Mahindra as the company began consolidating its strengths in design. In 2002, M&M achieved a major milestone with the launch of India’s first indigenous SUV, the Scorpio. A runaway hit from the day of its birth, the Scorpio was by far one of the most exciting products ever developed by M&M and one that would give it immense recognition.
The success of the Scorpio in India further bolstered Mahindra’s global ambitions and the company actively began looking for partnerships overseas. The emphasis was now on establishing a solid local presence as this was the key to long-term success and building trust with the customer. In addition to the Scorpio, Mahindra also developed the Mahindra Pik Up, based on the Scorpio platform, exclusively for overseas markets.
In the early 2000s Mahindra made its presence in Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Rwanda , Burundi and Nigeria.
2004 – A significant year for Mahindra, which sees the company open its first office outside India marking its presence internationally.
Mahindra South Africa, a JV company, is also set up in South Africa for sale of the Scorpio and Bolero Pik Up.
2005 – Mahindra Europe is established in Italy with the launch of the Scorpio (known as the Mahindra Goa), and Bolero Pik Up. Mahindra also made a foray in the Other European market in the same year.
2006 – M&M launches a product solely for the overseas market, the Mahindra Pik Up which was built on the Scorpio platform.
2007 – Mahindra consolidates its position in neighbouring countries including Bhutan. The company soon forays into Sudan, Morocco, Algeria and Ghana, consolidating its position in the African continent. Mahindra also ventures into Chile and Peru in South America with the introduction of the Mahindra Pik Up.
2008 – Mahindra Automotive Australia is formed to strengthen Mahindra’s position in Australia. The market of Paraguay is opened for Mahindra Business
2009-10 – The iconic Brand Mahindra Thar is launched in Italy and South Africa. This year also saw the consolidation of Farm and Auto Business in Mahindra , leveraging on the synergy for International Business.
Formation of IO AFS – combined entity for exports for automotive and farm division products under single Chief executive . Harnessing Synergy between the two operations of Auto & Farm sector.
2011 – Mahindra Expands its foot prints in South America in Uruguay, Ecuador .Year 2011 also saw one of the most distinguished launch ,Designed and developed in-house by Mahindra, with the cheetah-inspired styling the Mahindra XUV500 ,its first global SUV platform, a monocoque ,with significant inputs in styling and development from customers across the globe.
There was a simultaneous launch for Mahindra XUV500 in South Africa.
The year 2011 also saw the global launch of Mahindra Next Big Pik up exclusively for International Markets, Mahindra Genio.
2012 The market of Columbia was opened to strengthen the presence in South America. This year to see many more foot prints across the globe with a huge surge on Volumes and market share.