M&M recasts leadership to beef up focus on EV business

A new position of CEO has been created for Mahindra & Mahindra automotive business, along with a COO for its newly formed Mahindra Electric Automobile (MEAL) and a management council created solely to focus on M&M’s EV deliveries.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has reshuffled its leadership to build a team dedicated to grow its electric vehicle business, reported the Economic Times on April 17. The recast of roles comes at a time when the company is struggling with demand and supply issues in its EV venture.

A new position of CEO has been created for the automotive business, along with a COO for its newly formed Mahindra Electric Automobile (MEAL) and a management council created solely to focus on M&M’s EV deliveries.

On April 4, Nalinikanth Gollagunta took over as CEO of the automotive business. He is reporting to Veejay Nakra, president of the automotive business. The newly formed Mahindra Electric Automobile (MEAL) is being headed by Kausalya Nandakumar, who took the reins of the chief operating officer on April 1 and is reporting to the new management council led by Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director for farm and automotive sectors.

Also read: Mahindra & Mahindra total sales rise 21% in March to 66,091 units

Other members of the council include Nakra, R Velusamy (president, auto tech and product development), Vinod Sahay (president and chief procurement officer) and Rajeev Goel (chief financial officer, automotive and farm equipment sector).

M&M has been struggling to address a demand-supply disparity in its existing internal combustion engine-powered SUV operations. The auto major expects its electric vehicles to constitute 20-30 percent of its total SUV sales by March 2027. However, supply chain challenges and lower-than-expected demand for the newly launched SUVs are weighing on the business.

At the end of the December quarter, M&M had an open order book of 266,000 units with wait times of up to a year. The company expects to rev up capacity to 49,000 units per month by the end of FY24.