Mahindra & Mahindra that had once vouched for acquiring Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) back in early 2000s, is now happy that it had backed off and did not buy the British iconic brand, which is in a bad shape right now.

“We had been looking for buying an upmarket brand including JLR (at that point in time) but today we don’t regret that. We backed off and don’t regret that,” Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, said here on the sidelines of the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS 2019).

Tata Motors had, in June 2008, acquired the Jaguar Land Rover businesses from Ford Motor Company for a net consideration of $2.3 billion, in an all-cash transaction. Mahindra was also very keen and good contender then.

Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and current Chairman N Chandrasekaran also met JLR CEO Ralf Dieter Speth on the sidelines of the GIMS, but both the parties did not speak to mediapersons.

M&M’s buys

But, Mahindra on the other hand, since then (2008) has acquired a lot of brands including Reva for its electric vehicles drive; Korean company SsangYong for its premium vehicles; Italy-based design and engineering company Pininfarina and recently cult motorcycle brand Jawa in two-wheelers segment.

Mahindra said the company always seeks for growth while acquiring any brand and makes sure to concentrate on certain product lines. For instance, he says the company manufactures only utility vehicles from Mahindra & Mahindra stable, except eVerito sedan, and will continue to do so, instead of launching more sedans.

SsangYong turn-around

That is the very reason that it has made SsangYong grow in the Korean market too and after the acquisition, the company has advanced from number five to number three amongst the top players.

Meanwhile, Mahindra here at GIMS launched the all-new Korando SUV for the European market from the SsangYong stable. Korando is one of the oldest running brand since last three decades.

Also, the company unveiled Pininfarina Battista, the world’s first luxury electric hyper performance GT, which will cost around €2 million.

“When it arrives in 2020, the Battista will be the most powerful car ever designed and built in Italy and it will deliver a level of performance that is unachievable today in any road-legal sports car featuring internal combustion engine technology,” the company said.

Also, this is the first car that Pininfarina has its name and badge on it from the 600 cars designed in the history of the company, Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, M&M said here adding that there will be only 150 units of Battista manufactured by the company.

(The writer is Geneva on the invite of Tata Motors)

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