- Mahindra & Mahindra focuses on future growth with strong financial performance and AI use
- The company exceeded EPS growth targets with a 57% increase and ROE around 20%
- India's economy expected to grow 8% annually, boosting demand across sectors
With multiple businesses scaling up and financial performance strengthening, Mahindra & Mahindra is turning its focus to the future. In an interview with NDTV Profit's Niraj Shah, M&M Group CEO Anish Shah outlined how the upcoming fiscal looks like for the company. He also spoke about how Artifiical Intelligence has helped the company grow.
Reflecting on his five-year tenure, Shah emphasised that Mahindra's transformation has been driven by people, purpose, and disciplined capital allocation.
The group has not only strengthened its core auto business, emerging as a leader in SUVs and passenger vehicles, but also delivered robust financial outcomes. Mahindra had set a return on equity (ROE) target of 18% and EPS growth of 15–20%, but significantly outperformed, clocking 57% EPS growth over the period.
While ROE has touched around 20%, Shah indicated that the company will continue to balance profitability with reinvestment, keeping returns broadly anchored around the 18% mark as capital is deployed into future growth opportunities.
India Growth Story A “Powerful Tailwind”
A key pillar of Mahindra's long-term strategy is its conviction in India's economic trajectory.
Shah believes India's growth, driven by consumption and infrastructure (both physical and digital), remains underappreciated. He expects the economy to grow at around 8% annually over the next few years, which could expand GDP from roughly $4.4 trillion to $6.6 trillion, with the potential to add another $3 trillion if growth accelerates.
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This macro backdrop, he noted, creates a powerful demand tailwind across sectors, from automobiles to financial services and rural markets.
Auto Business: Growth With Capacity Expansion
Mahindra's core auto segment continues to anchor growth, particularly in SUVs, where it has gained significant market share.
Despite macro uncertainties, including geopolitical tensions, the company expects its passenger vehicle (PV) business to grow in the high teens, outperforming the broader industry. However, segments like tractors and light commercial vehicles, where Mahindra already holds dominant market shares of 44% and 52% respectively, are likely to grow closer to industry rates.
To support future demand, the company is expanding capacity across both internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicle (EV) platforms, with new facilities such as Nagpur expected to drive the next growth inflection.
AI As A Strategic Differentiator
Rather than investing heavily in AI infrastructure, Shah said the group is prioritising practical applications that deliver tangible outcomes.
AI is not just about productivity or jobs, it's about improving quality, customer experience, and operational efficiency, he said in the interview.
Mahindra is already deploying AI across multiple areas to enhance vehicle quality and engineering. reduced service times and improving customer satisfaction, optimising plant operations and increasing capacity and driving customer engagement.
For instance, AI-led customer interaction tools helped generate 17,000 additional test drives for the XUV 7XO, by managing calls and WhatsApp interactions seamlessly.
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Shah emphasised that Mahindra aims to be a leader in leveraging AI, even if it does not immediately lead in capital expenditure on the technology.
Resilience Amid Global Uncertainty
Addressing global risks, Shah acknowledged rising uncertainty but struck a confident tone. He pointed to Mahindra's strong cash position, resilient teams, and lessons learned during COVID-19 as key strengths.
The company remains focused on staying agile while continuing to invest aggressively, positioning itself to capitalise on both domestic growth and global opportunities.
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