Automotive Division of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. is in the business of manufacturing and marketing Utility Vehicles, LCVs and servicesfor last 52 years. It is the market leader in this segment enjoying more than 50% of the marketshare. M&M brand denotes Ruggedness, Durability, Reliability, Easy Maintainability and Operational Economy.The customer profile primarily includes individuals, traders, entrepreneurs, contractors, tour operators, taxi owners, car hire companies, government departments and institutions Army etc.

The continued deregulation & liberalisation of Indian Economy has provided an impetus to rapid growth. India is expected to become a major export base for auto components and aggregates. Global automobile giants are entering the Indian market. Increasing GDP growth rate, multi-motorisation and envisaged higher investment in infrastructure is expected to give further boost to the Indian automobile industry.

The Company is gearing itself to meet these challenges through rapid upgradation and expansion of manufacturing technologies through additional investment. This would be supported by modern, elegant and efficient distribution network with consumer friendly work ethics.

The Automotive Division has utility vehicles manufacturing plants at Kandivli (Mumbai) , Igatpuri, Nashik in the State of Maharashtra and LCV assembly plant at Zaheerabad, in the State of Andhra Pradesh, together employing more than 12,000 employees. The productivity (vehicles per person per annum) of the Division has been showing upward trend over last three years.

All the divisions of the Company plants are certified ISO9002. We are gearing ourselves for QS 9000

The Division has embarked upon Business Process Re-engineering since 1994 in order to utilise its resources more efficiently and enhance customer service level. The re-engineering of operations was primarily necessitated due to intense domestic competition, entry of global players in the segment and enhanced customer expectations.

The spread of the product is uniformly distributed in North, South and West regions of India and has marginal presence in East. Nearly 70% of the Company's products are sold in semi-urban and rural markets. With models like, the Armada and its planned new versions, the Company plans to cater to the niches in urban market. The distribution is managed through a network of more than 150 Dealers spread across the Country, which is supported by Company’s 18 Area Offices. Apart from this, the vehicles are serviced through 30 Authorised Service Centres and 60 Stockists for meeting the need of genuine spare parts.

The marketing strategy of the Division revolves around rationalising models, delivering value for money, increasing safety features, incorporating fuel efficient engine, improving the quality of after sales service and maintaining low price product image. For high end market, the strategy adopted is to offer products with more comfort level with option of accessories to meet special needs of individuals.

Currently the Export focus is on African, South American, South Asian and Middle East Markets, where the need and use of vehicles is akin to India. The Company has set itself target to export 15% of the output within next three years.

The Division has a separate R&D Centre at Nashik with a team of 147 engineers & 108 support staff. Cross functional and concurrent engineering teams are working on Integrated Design & Manufacturing (IDAM) to design a product to suit specific requirements of the customers through quick product development. A sports utility vehicle Scorpio is in the pipeline with all new aggregated and in stated for debut in Auto Expo 2000. The current role of R & D is to design products that meet all the customer needs as well as the legal requirements in terms of various norms for CMVR, safety & emission. Thus, emphasis is given on designing a product that has a level of quality built into it (through specifications) & which is easy to manufacture. R & D also lends its support during the entire life cycle of a product by associating closely with Service department.

R&D has a Design Center with a state of the art CAD Centre having 60 workstations with specialised analysis software like Adams & Nastran & Hypermesh, Styling software: Alias, PDM software Metaphase & Solid Modeling software, SDRC Ideas, Catia, etc. that are being used for designing & analysing various aggregates going into the vehicle. All designs are validated in Testing Centre having laboratories for Engine Testing, Metrology, Metallurgy, Polymer, Oil & Fuel, Acoustic Testing, Vehicle Testing and Fatigue Testing.

A new Mahindra Research Valley is being developed at a greenfield location at Thane near Mumbai. This is a 120 acre site & investment of Rs. 2,000 million is planned for this facility.