Disco With KS| ஓலைக்குடிசை டூ கார் தயாரிப்பு Mahindra & Mahindra Velusamy Inspirational Journey N18P

If we could get 1,200 units monthly, we could recover the 700 crore rupees we invested. The moment we launched, we got 25,000 bookings. 25,000 bookings in one hour.

Hello sir.

It was automobiles from the start. My first interview was with Tata Motors. They said they only take B.Tech graduates for service roles and M.Tech for research. In the second and final round, they told me to either accept a service role or leave. I said I wanted R&D - it was my dream. I told them right then I wouldn't join. I was very emotional that day.

The next day, Bajaj Tempo came for recruitment. Five of us got selected into R&D, specifically engine development. We were at Bajaj Tempo in Pune for about a year. Then Mahindra started recruiting for the Scorpio engine project. Pavan Goenka, who had returned from the US with 14 years at General Motors, came to interview.

He had a doctorate in crankshaft lubrication. When he interviewed me and saw how I explained things, he was impressed. He had a PhD, 14 years at General Motors, and had received their top award for contributions. He had come back to India to do something for the country. I didn't know any of this at the time. The questions he asked inspired me to give the right answers.

For the first time, I flew on a plane from Mumbai to Frankfurt - an international flight on a Boeing 747. I studied everything about that plane before the trip. When I landed, I didn't even know how to use a seatbelt. It was my first international flight - we had always traveled by train.

At a stop in Austria, people noticed me and figured I was a first-timer. They guided me to the boarding counter. When I finally crossed and saw Europe during the day, I realized this was a completely different world. I saw how developed the country was, with low population, high curiosity. I spent about two years there, going back and forth.

I went to Mahindra and Mahindra in Austria, where they developed the Scorpio engine. I worked on developing that engine there. I learned how they develop engines and where their expertise came from - 75 years of the company's history. The owner was a university professor who had written many theories on thermodynamics and personally constructed the engines. He had separate departments for each component. That's when I understood why that country is so advanced.

While I was there, a colleague who worked at BMW was also developing engines. He stayed in the guest house with a BMW car. There were also Volkswagen cars. I realized there are two types of cars - Volkswagen for the people, BMW as a high-performance cult car with very high margins and a status symbol. This was a functional car. That's when I understood there are two types of cars in the automobile world.

I had a passion to provide cars for our Indian people at an affordable price. I came from a thatched hut. We studied through school and college on the taxes paid by the people of Tamil Nadu. They educated us without any guarantee we would return. They trusted us. Similarly, we had a thought to give something back to India. While in Germany, I desperately wanted to return to India. I got an opportunity at BMW as engine manager, but I performed well and the professor was impressed when I spoke about science and Einstein.

We compared with BMW. This had to be priced between 10 to 16 lakhs. It needed superior power and torque for that engine. We created a new engine and transmission, but couldn't change the shape. We kept the three-door design. We experimented with proportions - bonnet length, cabin height, rectangular cabin, big tires like the old Jeep. We could only fit one door. We tried adding another door but it looked too long and lost the cult feel. So we designed it with a sliding co-passenger seat so people could access the rear seat.

We expected 1,200 units monthly to recover our 700 crore investment. We thought even if it doesn't sell well, it's okay as a product - let people experience it. It's a 4x4 vehicle. But the moment we launched, we got 25,000 bookings in one hour on the same day. Our monthly capacity was 1,500 units, but demand was nearly 4,700 to 5,000 per month. That's when we realized that even with some functional defects, it had emotionally hooked people.

The shape is the emotional hook. If that hook is there, people will buy it. They won't use it for long-term journeys, but it's an expression of their personality. For every product, there's no concrete way to predict success or failure. At the start, we thought 1,200 cars per month was a big deal. But the two-year target was achieved in a single day. The same success happened with XUV 700, which is a seven-seater that's extremely comfortable.

For bank officers, university workers, industry professionals, and film industry workers, we wanted to provide a brand like BMW or Skoda but at a good price of around 22-24 lakhs. A no-apology seven-seater at that price. We looked at ride, handling, space, step-in height, shoulder headroom, legroom - everything carefully. We brought in technology like the screen, sunroof, and audio system.

We focused on seating comfort - after 400 kilometers of travel, passengers should feel fresh. We needed to control noise and vibration. Seating effort had to be excellent - no body pain during travel. We compared visibility, safety, mileage, price, quality, and reliability in that order of priority.

Reliability and quality are hygiene factors above 15 lakhs - you have to give them. Visibility and ride comfort, AC cabin cooling - people always look at these. When we entered the automobile industry, there wasn't much competition in India. Now affordability has increased and there's a lot of competition. International brands are coming in, local brands are growing.

Previously there was Ford, GM; now Korean and Japanese brands are successful. Hyundai and Kia have made a mark. Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, and Mahindra - these are the ones in the market. Only through products can you increase market share. We were doing 200,000 units in 2020. Now we're doing 450,000 per year. The reason is products. In about three to four years, we've doubled.

With XUV 700, we sell 10,000 units per month now. In 2020, when XUV 500 was in the market, we were only selling 5,500 per month. We stopped the 500 and introduced the 700, which now sells 10,000 units. Similarly, Thar was selling 175 units per month in the old three-door version. Now it's nearly 6,000 units per month. And the new Scorpio sells 13,000 units since its relaunch. All with refinement and improvements.

With XUV 700, common men who never had car exposure now have expectations. In the Padmini and Ambassador era, people wouldn't buy cars knowing all the details. Now everyone knows everything. If you give good features, good comfort, people will buy even local brands because they have knowledge. That's our advantage - that's why Mahindra and Tata are coming forward. The brand value has increased.

Previously, there was a perception that BMW or any foreign model was a big deal. Ford isn't a big vehicle brand in the US, Honda isn't huge there either. But after XUV 700 came in the 25 lakh price bracket with 10,000 units per month, anyone who drives it says 'My God, this feels like a foreign brand.' They don't look at the Mahindra tag anymore - they look at the car's performance.

Because people are now knowledgeable - YouTube, social media - their knowledge has grown exponentially. They visit dealerships, test drive multiple cars, check user group comments. That's why local brands can succeed now.

Yes, for any vehicle we take minimum 800 families - kids plus families from different categories. We drive them and check seating comfort. Once on a drive from Coimbatore to Ooty with families, a little girl told me, 'Uncle, the AC isn't reaching me' because her parents were sitting in the center and she was on the edge. We later curved the AC duct to fix that. We observe customers without prompting them - they tell us things on their own.

Our whole team goes out and observes. We don't ask or prompt - we just observe, and they tell us on their own. Whatever they say, we pick up. Like that little girl's AC feedback. That's very important.

The step-in height - we keep it high for ground clearance, which is correct for this platform. But we could have designed the floor more elegantly. One technique I didn't know came from a family in 2020. A mother struggled to lift her leg to get in. She said 'Brother, can anything be done?' Also, the door only opens 60 degrees. They couldn't figure out how to put their leg in to reach the seat.

I asked why we don't open it to 90 degrees fully. They said it won't open fully. It was simple - increasing the strip length would allow full opening. We didn't know this demand existed until they told us. Within two weeks, we made the change and showed them. Minor issues like these accumulate and become major. A brand reaching higher numbers depends on small things. Ride, handling, AC, power - we give all that, but if the car doesn't sell, it's because of these small details.

Both are equally tough. But if you say which is more sensitive, it's people. We can innovate only through people. But dealing with people is tough and sensitive. In leadership roles, responsibilities increase. You need to decide what to do yourself and what to delegate. You can't do everything yourself - that's very, very important.

Leadership styles can vary, but there are key characteristics. The most important thing is deciding what to do yourself and what to delegate. For very important things, you must keep them under your direct supervision. For everything else, select a competent person, delegate fully with a framework - 'Handle up to this point, anything beyond, come to me.' Trust is very, very important. You must trust them. We develop talent year by year through GET and PGT programs. If we need five people, we've already developed about ten. You can't just go looking when the requirement comes. Developing the talent pipeline is a characteristic of leadership.

Next is integrity. Integrity and honesty are very, very important. Honesty means I do what I say - if I scold you, I scold you; if I smile at you, I smile. Whether it's good or bad, actions must match words. Integrity means I have moral principles and I live by them. Whatever your perception, you can't doubt his moral principles. He treats everyone equally. My father taught me about integrity. In Tamil he would say: 'Be honest, never lose your integrity. Do whatever you want, but never compromise your integrity.'

The work done by those under you should get credit. Never stand on stage and say 'I did it.' If you don't give credit, no one will work. In every corporate, salary isn't the problem. There's a child inside every person who wants appreciation. That child wants the boss to say 'He did this work.' That's enough - they don't even need salary. If we give credit, they'll work with energy. If not, they'll become dispirited.

We always see this worldwide: 100 people come to celebrate success, but for failure, only the leader stands alone. When failure happens, leadership must take responsibility. When success comes, give credit to the team. In the hierarchy of decision-making, 90% of power is with top management. When failure happens, leadership must come forward first. But when success happens, it's the hard work of those below who brought excellence. Excellence comes from hard work. If the decision is right and execution is excellent, it will succeed. If the decision is wrong, even excellent execution won't save it - and you can't blame the team.

At a top position, saying 'I'll take responsibility for the failure' - not many are ready to do that. In reality, it's very rare. Coming from a village background, I'm afraid to blame others. That moral principle doesn't allow it. In our village, doors don't have locks or latches - they're left open. Trust is very high. The house is in the garden, no one closes anything. Visitors come, drink water, and leave. Things stay where they were placed. Because we grew up like that, even if a decision goes wrong, we hesitate to blame others. We think twice. There's a guilty conscience. But that's the principle that has brought me to where I am.

Both are equally tough. But dealing with people is more sensitive. People are what enable innovation. People expect credit, they expect words to match actions, they expect freedom, and when they fail, they expect support - not scolding. You have to understand their personality. There's a big difference between character and personality. Character can't be seen externally; personality is what we see. But success depends on character - what we do when no one is watching. That's character. We must identify this in every team member. In a team of seven, each person's character and personality should be similar - without masks. If masks are involved, people will misuse us.

Collaboration - interdependence - that's what gives success. Independence never gives success. The people under me must be interdependent. That's collaboration.

About 6,500 total. About 4,200 are permanent employees - they're all engineers. And about 1,000 temporary engineers.

It's a very big journey, and for me it's been inspirational. The mHawk engine in Scorpio - people write about it. I was the project leader for that engine. When it came out, all of India talked about it. The mHawk engine is a major reason the Scorpio revived and survived. Everyone says Mahindra's engines are excellent - that's partly because of this. I became Head of Department by around 40, reaching a senior position very early. Early stages always depend on performance. When you're young, you can't do everything alone - you need to get work done from others.