FULL SPEED AHEAD

WITH HIS BETS ON PREMIUM AND ELECTRIC BIKES, SUDARSHAN VENU IS CHARTING A GLOBAL GROWTH PATH FOR TVS.

- BY RISHI KANT

FOR SUDARSHAN VENU, becoming an automobile enthusiast wasn't hard. He grew up amidst the roar of the engines in India's oldest factory racing team and has ridden a motorbike on four continents. Today, the 36-year-old alumnus of the hallowed Wharton School, the business school in the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, helms one of the largest manufacturers of two- and three-wheelers in India. In August, the board of TVS Motor Company unanimously approved a generational transition at the helm: Sudarshan, the fourth-generation scion of the T.V. Sundaram family, was appointed chairman of the storied manufacturer of motorcycles such as the Apache and the Jupiter scooter.

Singapore-based Sudarshan, who has been the MD of TVS Motor, has been widely credited with accelerating the company's global ambitions, pushing for international talent, and investing in future-ready products and technologies. His elevation comes at a time when TVS is expanding its footprint in both traditional and electric mobility segments.

Sudarshan credits his father, Venu Srinivasan, for the success he has achieved with TVS. He explains that it is a testament to the values on which his father built TVS. “The values are a focus on customers and quality, and a focus on investment in products and technology. I believe this is the fundamental basis of what TVS is, and it also serves as our guiding principle as we move into the future,” he says. He adds that TVS must apply these values with a greater sense of agility and embrace new technologies both in terms of EVs and premiumisation, and also in terms of digitalisation and AI. “I think this is the focus for us across our businesses.”