International Acquisitions - Next in the List for Mahindra

Lately, the Indian auto giant, Mahindra has been in a lot of news because of the success stories of its newfangled Mahindra XUV 500, its acquisition of Ssangyong and its controlling position in the REVA electric cars. Another feather has been added to Mahindra’s car as it has recently overtaken John Deere and has emerged as the world’s largest tractor making company in terms of volume. The next big growth-oriented step planned by the company is the international acquisitions aimed at enhancing the vehicles and services products for the agriculture business. According to the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Anand Mahindra, the company is looking forward to acquisitions that could help it expand its vehicle portfolio and meets the ambitions related to the agriculture business area.

Mr. Anand added that the company is ready for inorganic moves in tractors, across all continents. Mr. Anand Mahindra is a graduate of Harvard University and from last 14 years he has been working at the expansion of his family’s business. Spread across aerospace, financial service and information technology the Mahindra & Mahindra group’s revenue reached 12.5 billion USD in 2011. The tractor market has grown 24 percent to over 545,000 units last year. Mahindra has been holding the lead position among the tractor manufacturers in the country and the company now wishes to explore the agriculture related services that include horticulture, irrigation and farm technology. In 2011, Mahindra invested 130 million USD in the development of an innovation centre in Chennai k/a Mahindra Research Valley.

Mahindra also holds the controlling shares in the Maini group’s REVA electric cars. The company will be rolling out the next-generation Reva NXR which will flaunt a much better design than the previous REVA. According to Mr. Mahindra, the car would look less quirky and would surely not look Mr. Bean’s personal ride anymore. This move of the company clearly indicates its intensions of exploring areas that are more sophisticate and are outside its home market. Auto experts suggest there is no future for electric cars in India since Indian homes do not get enough power anyway and the grid is incapable of supporting electric cars, these cars have a bright future in the European markets owing to their affordable prices in comparison to their rivals.