XUV is a living proof of the value of MRV. In that sense, the XUV was a wonderful validation. The XUV grew along with MRV. As the institution was built, the product was created.
— Anand Mahindra
To me, every decision needn't be a 'big-bang' reform but a signal of proactive decision-making and removal of red tape and bureaucracy.
For any sport to be sustainable, it cannot survive on government or corporate grants alone. The sporting ecosystem needs more investments from businesses, and businesses need to see the returns from their investment in sport. Cricket has achieved that distinction, but I feel a country of a billion-plus people cannot remain captive to one sport.
We see ourselves as being people who want to take India to the world; we see ourselves as being aggressive, assuming risk.
My aspiration is that M&M become one of the most customer-centric organizations in the world. If we focus on understanding our customers, we will be able to develop customer-centric innovations.
We often say that the M&M Group's destiny is inextricably linked with India's. Both were born around the same time: India in 1947, M&M in 1945. The group has experienced the same vicissitudes that the Indian economy has.
One of the demonetization benefits, in some markets like used cars, is that organized, transparent businesses are gaining at the cost of unorganized players.
I think a CEO lives or dies in whether he's been able to hold on to elements of culture that are needed in the company.
My own ambitions were eclectic. My father ran a steel plant, and I was expected to study metallurgy and end up at the steel plant when I finished high school at age 15. Despite my proficiency at science, I decided against it and instead went on to study filmmaking.
For too many years, we, as a country, have suffered from a poverty of aspiration.
Our credo says that, in the end, we want to drive positive change in the lives of our stakeholders and communities across the world, enabling them to rise.
You incubate a product in an atmosphere where that product is best incubated. So, for example, we incubated our electric scooter in California. Because it's low-volume manufacturing but high-intelligence, intensive manufacturing, we are starting in Michigan.
Leaders don't look behind; they don't look to the side - they look ahead.
The term 'niche' is no longer pejorative.
You have to seed internal disruptors. You need sources of internal disruption. They don't guarantee your survival, but you have got to try.
When people consume, they want more. Then they choose the best, and you suddenly get innovation coming in. Now combine that with desperation and people wanting to get a better life: you have a potent combination for innovation.
In India, we are forced to choose our specialisation very early, whereas in some other countries, this can be done much later in life. While the British have abandoned this approach, we in India seem to be struggling with the old British system of education.
To me, Scorpio was a big bet and a quantum leap in the kind of sophistication of our products. People forget that, apart from the Bolero and the Armada, until the nineties we never made hard-top vehicles.
In a large bureaucracy, you cannot exercise the transformation of any situation without coopting bureaucracy.
There is a growing interest in team ownership and promoting sports beyond cricket in India. I always felt it is important to encourage other sports, especially those that bring communities together and promote active lifestyles to Indian youth.
Nothing is 'another day at the office.'
The more I learn about industry structures, the more I feel that once a company has paid the fee, in a manner of speaking, to enter a sector, it becomes even harder to stay afloat.
I am not a lonely person. I am happily married and not looking for companions on social media.
If I were to put labels on demonetization, it would be transparency and traceability.
Anyone who makes time frames beyond tomorrow probably isn't pushing himself hard enough.
If you aren't humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you.
I have personally invested in a company created by Rohit Khattar - Cinestaan Film Company. But that's what I do personally.
The Rise credo is about accepting no limits, alternative thinking, and driving positive change - the three pillars.
We don't believe start-ups are the private preserve of only garage start-ups... The corporate garage is going to be the scene of a lot of action.
Benchmarking is an ongoing exercise in any company that aspires for leadership.
You cannot mean everything to all segments of the markets. You cannot have a brand straddling too many meanings.
I have no problem with money coming in and spawning competition. I am honest enough to admit that Mahindra & Mahindra would not have been going to the IITs and doing research if there was no competition.
When you sell cars in the U.S., it forces you to be the most competitive.
After I finished school, I went to JJ College of Architecture and then to Harvard. I did my B.A. with a major in filmmaking.
We have never shied away from making investments. Even during downcycles, we never stopped our investments.
The Indian government is extraordinarily large, and it is difficult to try and believe that one leader can make all the change. This is a federal system.
I have fond memories of my kabaddi exploits at Lawrence School. I also enjoyed tennis and swimming.
You have to treat every day as a new challenge, and you have to remain paranoid, as they say.
In 2001, I did some research and identified four characteristics that successful companies share. One, they aspire to be leaders in their businesses. Two, they have global potential. Three, they are innovative. Four, they display a ruthless focus on financial returns.
Social media is one of the most under-rated business tools, in my opinion. It's an amazing cockpit for any CEO. I can narrate any number of stories how it has helped me to reach out to customers, dealers, protesting workers, and even security guards.
The most important thing that I tell myself is that no matter where I go in this journey, the humility is what's gonna keep me honest and real. And perhaps a better manager.
Being tied down to a pre-med or engineering track would have slotted me into a very narrow group. Being a young filmmaker allowed me to explore many areas of life and many kinds of people.
My mother was a writer. She acted in one film before she decided that Bollywood wasn't good enough for her. My two sisters and I probably learned from her how to get under other people's skin. In contrast, my father was a simple man despite his success at business. He was a people person, and I think that's what led him to join politics.
I love the blues, but I love a lot of music.
The moment I say I'm going into scooters, they say, 'You're crazy.' Six months later, when BMW comes out with an electric scooter, it's fine. But when Anand does it, because he's some small guy in India, it's not fine.
President Donald Trump's policies are not global but inward-looking.
Mahindra's brand strategy is about niches across areas of mobility.
Old definitions of segments are going to get blurred. Once you defined cars by horsepower, engines. That has changed.
Sometimes the only kind of innovation comes when you have some solitude; when you step away.
Education is like the pooja ghar for us. We are never going to become a for-profit player in education. It will be akin to selling the pooja ghar.
