MUMBAI: Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the homegrown auto group Mahindra & Mahindra, on Wednesday admitted that entering the commuter bike segment more than a decade ago was a failure on the part of the group.
The group entered two-wheelers after buying out Kinetic Motors in July 2008 and relaunched the ‘Freedom’ bikes under the label of ‘Mojo’ but has not been able to make a mark in the vastly entry-model driven two-wheeler space in the country even after a decade.
The market is dominated by Hero Motorcorp and Japanese major Honda which together control close to two-thirds of the over 21-million units per annum market.
Of this, Mahindra sold a paltry 4,004 units in FY19, down 73 percent from FY18. The only player in an over a dozen OEM market behind Mahindra is Kawasaki Motor which sold 3,115 units in the year, according to SIAM data.
Terming failure as “capital”, just like financial and human capital, Mahindra said the learning from the commuter bike episode, which was a “product failure” led to the learning and entry into the premium two-wheeler segment where he claimed the group has been successful.
Mahindra said they entered the two-wheeler market with the confidence to “win”, on the back of having a strong understanding of the ecosystem, distribution, R&D and also brand positioning. (AGENCIES)
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