Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, expects good times to return to the auto sector by April next year.

The most optimistic people in his group today are those in the auto and farm equipment segments, he said at an event.

“...the most optimistic people in our group today are our automotive people. They’ve seen a good close in calendar year and they are hopeful of next year,” Mahindra said.

The biggest driver

He said the new BS-VI emission norms from April will be the biggest demand driver for the company.

Speaking about failures in the past, Mahindra said Mahindra said the decision to enter the commuter bike segment was a mistake.

“We knew our dream well and we had the right things, but how to win is where we went wrong. We should have never gone to the commuter bike side,” Mahindra said, speaking at an event organised by British carrier Virgin Atlantic.

Speaking at the same event, Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group, said, “India will do well financially, people will be pulled out of poverty, health will get better, lesser number of under age women will get married in India.”

On climate change, Branson said, “All countries need to talk about climate change, We are putting our grand children’s lives on parole. We as companies need to work on cleaner air, We need to work on clean energy, and need to be leaders, it makes business and economic sense.”