Mahindra AFS: Digitizing the Tractor World
Mahindra War Room 2015
Tractors & Farm Equipment Caselet
MAHINDRA AUTOMOTIVE & FARM SECTORS:
TRACTORS & FARM EQUIPMENT - DIGITIZING THE TRACTOR ECOSYSTEM
Mahindra Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors (AFS) comprise businesses ranging from Automotive (including Cars, UVs, Small Commercial Vehicles, Trucks and Buses),
Agri-business (including Dairy, Seeds and Applitrac equipments), Construction
Equipment, Powertrains (Engines, Transmissions & Gensets) to Tractors. This caselet pertains to the Tractors & Farm Equipment Business of Mahindra AFS.
BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Mahindra began manufacturing tractors in 1963, through a joint-venture with
International Harvester of USA, which had a strong DNA of Tractor Manufacturing and
Voltas Limited. The Mumbai plant was commissioned and the first tractors rolled out in
1965. Since then, the company expanded steadily, championing farm mechanization in
India. Historically, Mahindra and Eicher Tractors were strong in wheat growing fields of the North, while TAFE was strong in the rice growing fields of the South of India. TAFE made an aggressive entry into the Northern market, by acquiring Eicher Tractors and increasing its market share to 22%, coming within striking distance of Mahindra’s 31% then. The acquisition gave TAFE an entry into the northern markets of Punjab, UP and
Himachal Pradesh, which account for a third of all tractor sales. Mahindra responded by acquiring Punjab Tractors, renowned for its ‘Swaraj’ brand of tractors, in 2007, and executed a near perfect integration, thereby retaining its long-held leadership position.
In 1994, Mahindra entered the American market, and since then its tractors have been sold and serviced by hundreds of tractor dealers throughout USA. Mahindra has
34assembly plants in USA, in Houston, California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. In
2004, Mahindra entered the Chinese market by purchasing an 80% stake in Jiangling
Tractors of China, and subsequently formed a joint venture with Yeuda Group in
Tractors & Farm Equipment Caselet
MAHINDRA AUTOMOTIVE & FARM SECTORS:
TRACTORS & FARM EQUIPMENT - DIGITIZING THE TRACTOR ECOSYSTEM
Mahindra Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors (AFS) comprise businesses ranging from Automotive (including Cars, UVs, Small Commercial Vehicles, Trucks and Buses),
Agri-business (including Dairy, Seeds and Applitrac equipments), Construction
Equipment, Powertrains (Engines, Transmissions & Gensets) to Tractors. This caselet pertains to the Tractors & Farm Equipment Business of Mahindra AFS.
BUSINESS BACKGROUND
Mahindra began manufacturing tractors in 1963, through a joint-venture with
International Harvester of USA, which had a strong DNA of Tractor Manufacturing and
Voltas Limited. The Mumbai plant was commissioned and the first tractors rolled out in
1965. Since then, the company expanded steadily, championing farm mechanization in
India. Historically, Mahindra and Eicher Tractors were strong in wheat growing fields of the North, while TAFE was strong in the rice growing fields of the South of India. TAFE made an aggressive entry into the Northern market, by acquiring Eicher Tractors and increasing its market share to 22%, coming within striking distance of Mahindra’s 31% then. The acquisition gave TAFE an entry into the northern markets of Punjab, UP and
Himachal Pradesh, which account for a third of all tractor sales. Mahindra responded by acquiring Punjab Tractors, renowned for its ‘Swaraj’ brand of tractors, in 2007, and executed a near perfect integration, thereby retaining its long-held leadership position.
In 1994, Mahindra entered the American market, and since then its tractors have been sold and serviced by hundreds of tractor dealers throughout USA. Mahindra has
34assembly plants in USA, in Houston, California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. In
2004, Mahindra entered the Chinese market by purchasing an 80% stake in Jiangling
Tractors of China, and subsequently formed a joint venture with Yeuda Group in