Mahindra Automotive is an Indian automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, Mahindra Automotive is one of the largest SUV manufacturers by production in India and the Mahindra Tractors subsidiary is the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world by volume. It was ranked 18th on a list of top companies in India by Fortune India 500 in 2025. Its major competitors in the Indian vehicular market include Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors. Anish Shah is the current CEO and Managing Director of Mahindra Automotive.
History Mahindra & Mahindra was founded as a steel trading company on 2 October 1945, in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed by brothers Kailash Chandra Mahindra and Jagdish Chandra Mahindra, along with Malik Ghulam Muhammad. Anand Mahindra, the present Chairman of Mahindra Group, is the grandson of Jagdish Chandra Mahindra. In 1948, Ghulam Mohammed decided to move to the newly formed Pakistan.The Mahindras were left with stationary and company stamp that said M&M. They did not have the financial resources to change the name. Since there were two Mahindra brothers in the business they decided to change the company name to Mahindra & Mahindra.
Beginnings with Jeep They eventually saw a business opportunity in expanding into manufacturing and selling larger multi utility vehicle (MUVs) and started assembling under the licence of Willys Jeep in India. Soon, M&M was established as the Jeep manufacturer in India and later commenced manufacturing light commercial vehicles (LCVs) and agricultural tractors. Jeep was bought by American Motors Corporation in 1970; Jeeps continued to be built by Mahindra under licence from AMC and, in turn, under Chrysler after Chrysler bought AMC in 1987.
Acquisitions In 1984, in an early overseas expansion, Mahindra acquired Greek vehicle maker Balkania, which, until then, produced some Mahindra models under license.(open access eBook)
In 1999, Mahindra purchased 100% of Gujarat Tractors from the Government of Gujarat, and in 2017, Mahindra renamed it Gromax Agri Equipment Limited as part of its new brand strategy, and the models continue to be sold as Trakstar.
In 2007, M&M acquired Punjab Tractor Limited (PTL), making it the world's largest tractor manufacturer. Subsequent to this takeover, the former PTL was merged into M&M and transformed into the Swaraj division of Mahindra & Mahindra in 2009.
Over the past few years, the company has taken an interest in new industries and foreign markets. In 2008, they entered the two-wheeler industry by taking over Kinetic Motors in India.
In 2010, M&M took a 55% stake in the REVA Electric Car Company and in 2016, they renamed it Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd after taking 100% ownership.
In 2011 Mahindra acquired a majority stake of South Korea's SsangYong Motor, turning it into a subsidiary. In December 2020, after Mahindra stopped funding it, SsangYong entered into receivership, no longer being a Mahindra subsidiary from that point on, and after November 2022, when a KG Group-led consortium completed the acquisition procedures for a controlling stake, moving SsangYong out of receivership.
In October 2014, Mahindra acquired a 51% controlling stake in Peugeot Motocycles and a 100% controlling stake in October 2019. In May 2015, Mahindra acquired a 33.33% stake in Japanese tractor manufacturer Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery (MAM), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, renaming it as Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery.
In December 2015, Mahindra and its affiliate Tech Mahindra, through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), agreed to buy a 76.06% stake in Italian car designer Pininfarina, for €168 million.
In March 2016, Mahindra acquired 35% of Finland-based Sampo Rosenlew, entering the combine harvester business, subsequently increasing its stake in the company to 49.04% in December 2019.
In January 2017, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd acquired a 75.1 equity stake in Hisarlar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonym Şirketi (Hisarlar), a farm equipment company, marking its entry into Turkey and in September 2017 acquired another Turkish tractor and foundry business Erkunt Traktor Sanayii AS for ₹800 crore.
In January 2018, Mahindra announced its foray into the sprayers business through the acquisition of a 26% equity stake in M.I.T.R.A. Agro Equipments Pvt. Ltd, a Maharashtra-based AgTech company (MITRA). In March 2020, Mahindra further increased its stake in the company to 39%.
In February 2018, Mahindra acquired a minority stake of 22.9% percent in Carnot Technologies. Carnot Technologies owns and operates smart car firm CarSense.
In May 2018, Mahindra signed a share subscription agreement to acquire up to 10% share capital of Canada's IT firm Resson Aerospace Corporation. Resson has developed a system that captures and interprets images to give farmers information about the state of their fields and crops.
In June 2019, Mahindra purchased an 11.25% stake in Switzerland-based agro technology firm Gamaya. The acquisition enabled Mahindra to further develop and deploy next-generation farming capabilities such as precision agriculture and digital farming technologies.
In December 2023, Mahindra & Mahindra acquired a 60.01% stake in Emergent Solren Private Limited, now a solar power generator subsidiary of Mahindra Holdings Limited, for ₹288.05 crore.
Licensed production and joint ventures In November 2017, Mahindra signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement with Belgium-based Dewulf, a supplier of a full line of potato and root crop machinery. Under the agreement, Mahindra will manufacture and market potato planting equipment in India, for which the co-branded planter is developed.
In April 2010, Mahindra and Renault ended its joint venture which operated from 2005 onwards, with Mahindra buying out Renault's stake. Renault continues to license and supply key components such as engines and transmissions to Mahindra & Mahindra.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Ford Motor Company (Ford) first formed a joint venture to manufacture Ford cars in India, Mahindra Ford India. The JV manufactured its cars including the Ford Escort, at Nashik factory of Mahindra. In 2003, Ford increased its stake in the company to 72% and renamed it Ford India.
In October 2019, Mahindra entered into a joint venture with Ford by establishing Ford India in which Mahindra & Mahindra acquired a controlling 51% stake.
In January 2021, Mahindra ended its collaboration with Ford owing to global economic and business conditions caused by the pandemic.
Operations Under the "Mahindra" brand name, the company produces SUVs, Multi utility vehicles, pickups, lightweight commercial vehicles, heavyweight commercial vehicles and tractors. Mahindra maintains business relations with foreign companies like Renault SA, France. M&M has a global presence and its products are exported to several countries. Its automotive global subsidiaries include: Mahindra Europe S.r.l. based in Italy, Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA) in US., Automobili Pininfarina in Italy Mahindra South Africa Mahindra Australia
Automobiles Mahindra began assembling the Jeep CJ3 in 1954, and light commercial vehicles in 1965. In 1979 the licensed assembly of Peugeot diesel four-cylinder engines and transmissions began, and in 1982 a tie-up with Kia Motors to build their four-speed KMT90 transmission and transfer case was announced. Mahindra's MM range was a mainstay of the lineup and was eventually also offered with a 1.8-liter Isuzu petrol engine in addition to International and Peugeot diesels.
In 1965 in Pimpri, Pune, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd formed Roplas India Ltd. as a joint venture with Rubery Owen, a Darlaston-based engineering firm, to manufacture after market fibre glass bodies for Mahindra 91, 101, and 104.5 licensed versions of Jeep CJ which included every possible configuration service vans, police bodies, off-roader and ambulance models. They collaboratively also formed Mahindra Owen at Pune in 1958, an engineering company to manufacture truck trailers, one of the first trailer manufacturer of India.
In December 1989 Mahindra launched its 4x4 offroad SUV range which consisted of licence-built versions of the Jeep CJ named Brave, Chief, and Baja. These were powered by four-cylinder, 2.1-litre Peugeot diesel engines producing 62 hp and were available in 2032mm and 2311mm wheelbase variants. These were sold under motor industry investments, a joint venture between Paul Stoddart an Australian businessman and Roger Bastable founder of Abby Hill Group.
Mahindra started making passenger vehicles firstly with the Logan in April 2007 under the Mahindra Renault joint venture.Mahindra-Renault Launch Logan , additional text. M&M made its maiden entry into the heavy trucks segment with the Mahindra Truck and Bus Division, the joint venture with International Truck, USA.The Hindu on Mahindra International,. Mahindra produces a wide range of vehicles, including MUVs, LCVs and three-wheelers. It manufactures over 20 models of cars, including larger, multi-utility vehicles like the Scorpio and the Bolero. It formerly had a joint venture called Ford India Private Limited to build passenger cars.
At the 2008 Delhi Auto Show, Mahindra executives said the company was pursuing an aggressive product expansion program that would see the launch of several new platforms and vehicles over the next three years, including an entry-level SUV designed to seat five passengers and powered by a small, turbocharged Diesel engine.Mahindra Looking for Expansion ,. True to their word, Mahindra & Mahindra launched the Mahindra Xylo in January 2009, selling over 15,000 units in its first six months.
Also in early 2008, Mahindra commenced its first overseas CKD operations with the launch of the Mahindra Scorpio in Egypt, in partnership with the Bavarian Auto Group. This was soon followed by assembly facilities in Brazil.
Mahindra & Mahindra has a controlling stake in Mahindra REVA Electric Vehicles.
Mahindra launched its relatively heavily publicized SUV, XUV500, code-named as W201 in September 2011. The new SUV by Mahindra was designed in-house and it was developed on the first global SUV platform that could be used for developing more SUVs. In India, the new Mahindra XUV500 came in a price range between –1,500,000. The company was expected to launch three products in 2015 (two SUVs and one CV) and an XUV500 hybrid. Besides India, the company also targeted Europe, Africa, Australia and Latin America for this model. Mahindra President Mr. Pawan Goenka stated that the company planned to launch six new models in the year. The company launched the CNG version of its mini truck Maxximo on 29 June 2012. A new version of the Mahindra Verito in Diesel and petrol options was launched by the company on 26 July 2012 to compete with Maruti's Dzire and Toyota Kirloskar Motor's Etios.
On 30 July 2015, Mahindra released sketches of a new compact SUV called the TUV300 slated to be launched on 10 September 2015. The TUV300 design took cues from a battle tank and used a downsized version of the mHAWK engine found on the XUV500, Scorpio and some models of the Xylo. This new engine was dubbed the mHAWK80.
In 2015, Mahindra introduced an app based intra-city cargo platform known as SMARTSHIFT, a load exchange platform for small commercial vehicles. In 2018, Mahindra announced the merger of SMARTSHIFT with Mumbai-based logistics provider Porter.
In January 2016 Mahindra launched a sub-compact monocoque SUV called the KUV100. The KUV100 received a major refresh in the form of the KUV100 NXT launched in October 2017.
On 3 September 2018, Mahindra Marazzo the shark inspired MPV was launched in collaboration with Mahindra Research Valley (MRV), MANA and Pininfarina in four variants.