In Conversation With Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group | NDTV carandbike

I think the reason why this guy has come to life, why the brand now is a manufacturer of vehicles, it's something that I know they wanted to do for the longest time. The fact that you've been able to help them realize that dream has got to be special. It is. In fact, during the launch ceremony here this morning, I actually alluded to the fact that when we were negotiating to acquire Pininfarina, I had this one seminal lunch with Paolo. There were other suitors for the company, but in order to try and clinch things in our favor, what I told Paolo very truthfully was that the real critical reason for us to invest in Pininfarina was because we believed that it was important to fulfill the dream of his grandfather Battista, who spent his entire life designing vehicles for other people. But somewhere inside himself, he sure had a dream that like his friend Enzo Ferrari, he wanted his name on the name of the company and the only badge on the car. And obviously it was a very emotional moment today because I looked out to him – his mother was here, Paolo's mother was here – I brought her, it was crazy crowded. I saw them and I said, 'Paolo, I think I'm most delighted because we are now fulfilling the promise I made to him.' You know, on an emotional level it has its own space.

Absolutely. And that applies to electric, but frankly the ability to create an ecosystem and to manufacture by outsourcing a lot more of a vehicle than was previously possible – that applies even to conventional cars. But it's an interesting point you raise that we're at the right place at the right time. I guess history is littered with such examples, isn't it? So maybe yes, maybe fate had a hand to play in this. When we appear about this one, I can tell you, there's a lot of times your critics argue, 'Hang on, what is the plan here with Mahindra Automotive?' On the one hand you have – I mean this is the latest thing now that they have to harp about. But even when you did Gen-Z, for example, the assumption is that anything you do must have resonance in India; you must launch in India. You always said that doesn't have to be the case. Does this finally cement that idea that you are now truly just a global company? I rest my case. You know, there's not much to – I don't want to put that pressure on you. When you answered it more articulately than I could, but yes, we see ourselves as global players. I keep getting asked, 'When is Gen-Z going to be in India?' That it's too expensive? Or India does? The technology we developed in the Gen-Z have value in creating an electric SUV? Yes, of course it does, so does our Peugeot acquisition. But that's a different market in a different segment, and we will eventually, like we did in creating the Mirage, leverage our global network of products and competencies to develop the right products for whichever markets we play. It's a global game.

There's never one silver bullet for anything. But I don't think you should say that one product developed only for one market makes sense. In India, that's history – and of course India happily has become a scale market, so you can do that. But I believe even the largest companies in the world are seeing value in developing platforms. So what you have to do is now look at being very economical in developing some core platforms and then tweaking those platforms with different top hats or with different accessories – different variants – that then allow you to target a specific market. But the days of simply taking a product which you sell in one market, lifting it up and parachuting it in another market – those days are gone.

That's not a good thing for me. I only add one more thing: it's not just EVs. Look at the XUV 3MM, look at the collaboration with Tivoli – the Tivoli platform is what we used as a starting point. So why EVs? It's true for any other product as well.

You know, I'm still tracking the response. What you're telling me is positive – in its early days. But you're right, if you look at social media metrics, the degree to which this product launch was followed is staggering. Never before – you said it in your videos on this as well. You haven't had that? Can respond to – figure it out, you tell me why. Maybe because of those benchmarks, the fact that it moves, and coming from your brand – as always, people assume that perception is changeless to an extent. Well, no, people are willing to give you a chance, but that's not actually the case. I think when they get what they want from your brand, they're happy to pick it up. That's nice to hear. And one other thing that has been happening which has surprised us – the XUV is surprised? We had huge hopes and we are happy that those hopes have been fulfilled. The Alturas – if you ask me three years ago how confident are you that you can actually make Mahindra a serious contender in the 30 lakh plus price range, I would have said, 'Look, I'm not hundred percent.' But today, I think we have agreed that new generation was breaking cover. I remember all of you saying probably not for India at the time. Thank you – you know that's got a waiting list, right? Yeah, I drive it myself, so I know that it's a car that is in fact hugely underrated. In fact, I think we're underpricing it, which people recognize, and that's why the great demand for it. All three new products have got this amazing response, which I'm sure is great for you and the team.

You make it sound like I should quit while I'm ahead.

Let me keep you guessing. Watch this space, as they say. Otherwise, you won't want to talk to me again if I tell you everything. But you think so? You know, that's not true. There's a lot coming up, and we've got a number of new interesting launches coming up which I know you're going to love.

No, no. You know, we don't go out and target some acquisition globally. I've always said that acquisitions have to be followers to strategy, not lead strategy. When you go out and say 'I'm going to acquire something because I have to,' you normally end up in a ditch. So the question is if we find something that's going to bolster our global strategy – whether it's a geographic expansion or a technological competency acquisition – we will do it. But it's not like we have got a war room chart saying we are going to acquire. And global adventurism – we've always been conservative. I think that's always been validated. And so we will always be conservative. But in terms of product development in India, in Detroit, many things going on. Let the story unfold.