M&M's ELECTRIC MAKEOVER

MAHINDRA GROUP LINES UP 12 SUV LAUNCHES BY 2030, LOOKS TO SCALE UP EV PORTFOLIO FOR GROWTH.

- BY NEVIN JOHN

TRUCKS CARRYING TWO-WHEELERS and cars crisscross the industrial township of Chakan in Pune, stirring up dust and clogging approach roads to manufacturing plants during the busy morning hours.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) sprawling auto hub here is one of the nerve centres of India’s automobile production. A new plant on the campus now rolls out the company’s latest electric vehicles—the BE 6 and XEV 9e.

Inside the EV facility, heavy-duty manufacturing lines hum and whir with mechanised precision. Every stage—from the paint shop to the body shop to the electric powertrain unit—is fully automated. Japanese Fanuc and German KUKA robots are lined up in neat rows, spot-welding, handling materials, and joining parts with unerring accuracy. Built in a record 11 months and commissioned in January 2025, the plant is designed to produce electric SUVs on a fully integrated, highly automated system with over 1,000 robots and advanced transfer systems. The complex includes a press shop, an AI-driven body shop, and a robotic paint shop.

Auto major M&M, the flagship company of the Mahindra Group, has set up its own battery assembly unit within the Chakan campus, integrating it with the SUV production line. Blade cells are sourced from China's BYD; M&M’s in-house battery packaging ensures resistance to crash impact, fire, and water damage.

Cut to Chengalpattu—a town about 60 km from Chennai with serene, village-like charm. The road to Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) ends at a huge arched gate that opens into a lush, tree-lined 125-acre campus. R. Velusamy, the newly appointed president of automotive technology and product development, M&M, is already caught up in morning meetings.