For Mr. Mohan Kamat, the founder of the MG Group, his long association with M&M dating back to the late 1970s is not just about business. It is a deep emotional attachment that encouraged the creative talents in a 22-year-old engineering dropout to help him become an entrepreneur in his own right. We hear from Mr. Kamat, in his own words, about the special relationship between the Mahindras and his company.
The initial days
I can clearly remember, the date was 28th of November 1977. I was just 22. I had joined Mr. Satish Sanghi who had a dealership of M&M. He wanted to introduce me to the M&M administrative staff as his representative. I stepped into the M&M building in Worli, an old assembly plant converted into an office. It was a simple place, nothing swanky, and yet I immediately felt positive vibrations.
I was introduced to Mr. Gopala Krishnan, the first employee of M&M who was in charge of government sales, Mr. Nazir Chagla, Western Zone Sales Manager, and Mr. V.K.U. Menon who was in charge of Allocation. When I left, it was with a feeling that I was at the right place. Probably my childhood fascination with “Jeep”, which was synonymous with Military, Police and all government authorities in those days, had something to do with it. The production target of M&M those days must have been just about 10,000 vehicles per year, and the cost of a jeep was just about Rs. 50,000.
My lack of interest in academics and mad love for automobiles was a source of anxiety to my father who was a Senior General Manager with Premier Automobiles. He had issued a warning that one meal a day was assured to me, but the second I had to arrange for myself. There was a lot of energy in the air at M&M and it was just the right kind of excitement for a restless young man full of ideas. I kept getting a feeling that I was onto something long term.
Growing association
My association with Mr. Sanghi ended in just 18 months. With M&M it was just the beginning. With not much capital I could not dream of anything big, but Mahindras were known to advance money if one showed promise and built trust. I began as their transport contractor for Jeeps, with just 15 vehicles a month. In a few months I was handling thousands of jeeps, tractors and trailers. This speaks for not just my energy but the dynamic leadership of the company and the trust they placed in me.
I felt that with such a strong bond with M&M making the convoy transport cost effective and efficient became more of a priority for me than just making profit for my outfit. I would keep offering solutions, and I remember the discussions and debates, often stormy, a regular feature. I was pulled up by the seniors and made answerable, but never ignored. It added to my confidence and integrity.
Design ideas
In all this, however, automobile design ideas were my first love and kept making me enter areas which had nothing to do with convoy transport. Even here, I found receptive minds in the top management, such as Mr. Keshub Mahindra himself.
We began with designing seats for Armada, which was then a premium vehicle for M&M. Subsequently we also did a whole range of seats and safety equipment for Commander. My introduction to Mr. Keshub and Mr. Anand Mahindra happened in 1992 at the launch of the Armada. I had seen Mr. Anand Mahindra as a young management trainee, coming by BEST bus to the M&M Worli office, but had never had the occasion to get introduced. I said to him, “Good evening, Sir!” His immediate reaction was “Mohan, I have heard so much about you! Never call me Sir. I will always be ‘Anand’ to you.” This was possible only because of the deep involvement of the top management in my work. It is appreciation such as this that makes all the difference to a career.
Interesting challenges
Many challenges were thrown at me, and I was tested at every step. In this regard I cannot forget the role played by Mr. Sule, Mr. Dhume, Mr. George Jacob, Mr. Rajkumar Pitambar, Mr. Bharat Doshi, Mr. Alan Durante and Mr. Rajan Narayan. Every initiative taken by me had to be proved on merit, and this enhanced my attachment to my work and to M&M. Sometimes lack of resources forced me to pass them on to others, but I have no regrets. I remember that in those early years when often I used to be the first in the M&M office and the top bosses would ask me with a smile, “So what is the idea of the day?”
I was one of the founder members of ‘The Great Escape’- the motor sports event of M&M, and had the privilege of driving my own concept vehicle. Mr. Anand Mahindra sportingly drove with me one way from NSCI to Parasrampuria Farms in Shahpur. The management even offered me a place on the Board of Mahindra Specialty Vehicles Ltd., which I could not accept due to some technical reasons.
Dynamic engagement
Our relationship with M&M is now almost four decades old. We began with Transport Logistics, and the volumes handled by my Group to-date are over 10,00,000 Jeeps and 1,50,000 tractors. Then we made headway into manufacturing of aggregates like automobile seats for M&M and in due course came to be identified as a strategic source for M&M. Till 1995, we were a single source for design, development and supply of seats for all premium brand vehicles for M&M.
Bus body building
In 1996, we made a foray into manufacturing bus bodies for M&M. Today we are one of the most market-savvy and innovative bus body builders in the country. We manufacture staff buses, school uses, executive buses, luxury buses and special-purpose applications like ambulances, delivery vans, defense/army/police vehicles and other custom-designed vehicles for M&M. We have built for, and supplied more than 60,000 buses to M&M till 2014. Today we have a formidable combined annual production capacity of 14,000 buses. Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities offer all activities involving concept, design and development of contemporary vehicles for quality and cost-effective mass production under one roof. This defines our Group’s motto as a ‘Total Solutions Provider’.
As M&M reaches this major milestone in its spectacular journey, the sense of pride is shared by me and my Group as if it were our own achievement. This is because we have been made to feel that way by the successive leaders of M&M till date, including Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive Director, Mr. Pravin Shah, Chief Executive, Automotive Division, and Mr. Rajan Wadhera, CEO-Technology, Product Development & Sourcing, besides other senior members at M&M. We shall do our utmost to protect the confidence they have placed in us. For me, M&M stands for Mobility & Mileage!