The first part of the story is out but there is still a lot more to come.

Earlier this week, Mahindra & Mahindra announced that its next big offering, codenamed U321, had been christened Marazzo. The launch of this multipurpose vehicle is still some months away, which means details on its pricing, investments, anticipated volumes and so on will be known only then.

Pawan Goenka has reasons to be extra pleased with the new Mahindra baby as it is the first joint creation of the teams in the US and India. “This is the first tangible outcome since the time of setting up Mahindra North American Technical Centre (MNATC) in Detroit and that is what makes the Marazzo different,” says the Managing Director of M&M.

Coordinated effort

The product was being conceived at the same time around 2014 and it made sense to leverage the talent in Detroit and rope them into the project. This literally meant that the first lot of six to eight people at MNATC were roped in to hand-hold their counterparts in Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) in Chennai.

“In India, we only have expertise up to a certain level while Detroit is full of people who have done automotive engineering all their lives,” says Goenka. The bigger challenge was to get people from MNATC and MRV to work together for the project. After all, there were a series of challenges to overcome on time zones, cultures as well as the basic engineering language.

“Fortunately, Americans like to begin work early while Indians prefer to work late,” smiles Goenka. This solved the time difference since video conferences could happen more comfortably during late hours in India, which was still the first half of the day in Detroit.

The bonding between the teams gradually grew as they focussed on the project. Of course, there were the occasional arguments and disagreements but, by and large, the camaraderie was in place. More importantly, there were significant contributions from both sides.

“If we had left everything to Detroit, we probably would not have got the overall package for the Marazzo. Likewise, if it had been left completely to MRV, the same would have happened. It was a joint effort by the end of the day,” reiterates Goenka.

Striking a balance

While India contributed a lion’s share in sourcing, tooling and design, Detroit took over the engineering responsibility. It was also here that Rajan Wadhera, President of M&M’s Automotive Sector, played a big role in balancing things and “not letting go too far go either way”. By the end of the day, the customer in India is looking for a global product at an Indian price and this is where he helped provide the right balance.

Today, the teams from MRV and MNATC are already onto the next product, which is testimony to the spirit of cooperation that made the Marazzo a reality. “There was a lot of learning on the way and we have now established a good process by which we are able to combine the two sets of people and get the best out of their competencies,” says Goenka.

It is also his firm belief that the Mahindra group has also held its own over the years successfully thanks to its frugal approach to everything right from product development and investment to the way money is spent on offices, travel, etc.

“The good thing is that these people at MNATC, who come from large MNCs, have adapted to our culture of frugality. The discipline and their engineering excellence they bring into our ecosystem is wonderful,’ says Goenka.

This puts in context what he has constantly told the engineers at MNATC: ‘You are not here for us to change you; you are here for you to change us.’ Goenka also believes that the people who joined the Mahindra family in Detroit perhaps share the same mindset in frugal engineering.

This explains why working on the Marazzo was a unique experience for them. “If I were to speak for them, the joy of doing a product like this, with its investment and material costs, was perhaps as much as doing any product with large budgets and lesser constraints on material costs,” reasons Goenka.

Looking back at the Marazzo’s journey, he does not cease to marvel at the kind of talent that MNATC has been able to attract. Over the last four-five years, it has evolved to Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA) with over 200 engineers on board.

Goenka believes that perhaps one of its biggest USPs is that it is akin to a startup organisation where a few people make key decisions, call the shots and move ahead without anyone constantly monitoring them.

“I think this is what has attracted people to MANA and you will be amazed to see the kind of experience and expertise these people bring to the table. I must give full credit to our CEO, Rick Haas, who is very well connected and has got in the right talent to work with us,” he says.

Targeting the US market

It was Haas who also set the ball rolling in taking the Mahindra Thar for specific off-road use in the US. “Thar is a product that MANA people thought US customers would comfortably associate with,” adds Goenka. This paved the way for the Roxor, which is doing quite well.

It is here that MANA will have its work cut out in contributing to M&M’s development through collaboration with products like 321. Equally, the next priority would be to develop Mahindra as a brand in the US and this is where Roxor is the first part of that effort. “I never jump up and down too quickly and would rather wait for sustained success instead of one initial breakthrough. Roxor is a good start and perhaps we could look at something else too,” says Goenka.

Whilst on the Marazzo, the contribution of Pininfarna cannot be ignored. The Mahindra-owned Italian car design firm pulled out all the stops in creativity along with its counterparts in Mumbai. The inspiration for the vehicle’s design was the shark and its sleek form, which in turned spawned the Marazzo style quotient in a host of areas ranging from the grille to tail lamp and interiors.

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