The Hindu Business Line : B.V.R. Subbu

HE'S forthright and forthcoming, some may even call him outspoken. But what sets the Hyundai Motor India Ltd President, Mr B.V.R. Subbu, apart is his academic bent of mind as he intellectualises every facet of life — from car manufacturing to management and economic theories, politics, philosophy, and to what drives him. And if he has a strong opinion on each subject, he has a stronger conviction about what's right and wrong with the corporate environment and the country.

With a Masters in Economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mr Subbu was an unusual candidate in 1977 for the engineering-driven Tata Administration Service, but he did spend 18 long years at Tata Engineering executing what he calls "more than a job, a mission."

While he does recall his early days in Tata Engineering with warmth and attributes a lot of his learning to that phase of his career, he explains, in measured words, why he left an organisation that gives people an inherent sense of security, and belonging. He says in a tone that hints of a bitter aftertaste, "Sometimes when an organisation changes, you may not be completely comfortable with the manner of change. You feel that you're probably better off doing other things." He has been doing just that — driving Hyundai for the past nine years to help it emerge the country's second largest and fastest growing car manufacturer, which provides the parent company 10 per cent of its global turnover.

During these years with the Korean major, Mr Subbu has earned the reputation of calling a spade a spade, which he defends as his "freedom to air my point of view."

While he is the media's favourite for his straightforwardness, at times this has earned him critics, who are often uncomfortable with his against-the-tide opinions. For instance, Mr Subbu's views on excise duty for cars or the Thailand FTA caused quite a few raised eyebrows. But he stands by what he had said then against reduction of excise duties and that the FTA benefited car assemblers, while for manufacturers it meant that producing in India would be 17 per cent more expensive.

Mr Subbu has a theory that is simple and rooted to the ground. "Eventually, whatever is in the national good, is good for the country's industry, and anything that is good for the consumer is good for an organisation," he explains, adding that only then can there be long term sustainability.

One of the few Indians at the helm of a Korean company in the country, Mr Subbu says Hyundai is different from the others as it follows a consensus-based management system and has a worldview, with nationality not necessarily playing a vital role in hierarchy.

But why has the company changed three managing directors in 16 months? Mr Subbu attributes this to India being a complex assignment that gives managers a well-rounded exposure. "In a manner of speaking, should I say a finishing school?" he asks candidly.

While on the company front, what will drive Hyundai are its compact and mid-size segment cars, on the personal front it is his humility and tendency to constantly question his own relevance. "We're going to clock 2,50,000 cars for the year; what after this? These are urges from inside; I may like to take on a consultative role in the future," he says, attributing a lot of his soul-searching to his wife who was his classmate in JNU.

A die-hard supporter of the Congress party, he is, unlike other corporates, not afraid to say it outright. Mr Subbu recalls that even in his JNU days when the way to go was Left, he was a centrist at the fringes. Though his primary hobby is reading "not management stuff, but politics, philosophy and lots else," he still puts in 10-12 hours at work a day, where 30-40 per cent is devoted to external issues such as consumers, FIIs, the Government and media, the other 60-70 per cent to internal issues of production, sales among others.

Now with two grown-up children, a son in the US "who wants to come back to India" and a daughter pursuing medicine, personally Mr Subbu is in the prime of life. Professionally too, he is at the peak of an eventful career. But with an inherent ability to introspect, he still has miles to go.