Whatever is right for the urban customer, be it in terms of sustainability or richness of features, we provide the same for rural India,. The purchasing power and aspirations are same, says Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group to ET Now.
Edited excerpts:
You have a huge electrical vehicle (EV) platform. When you talk about auto recycling, arent EVs another way of making profit with sustainability?
We were punished for being pioneers in the EV space. We were called foolhardy and of course we find ourselves at the centre of the storm today. And we are very happy about that. We believe that pioneering in that field is paying off for us and that business is growing rapidly. So, look forward to our staying at the forefront of that movement.
But then where will rural India feature in the auto business when we talk about sustainability or EVs? We are seeing demand come back and it is an election year?
For a long time we have been saying that there is this wall between rural and urban India. The Mahindra Group sees that as an artificial divide. Increasingly, with technology, communications and connectivity, the aspirations of rural people are identical to their urban cousins. We design our products for the universe of customers.
We believe that the rural people should not be looked at with any kind of condescension. They have the same rapidly growing purchasing power and their aspirations are the same. We do not see a divide anymore. Whatever is right for the urban customer be it in terms of sustainability or features, richness of features. we have to provide the same for rural India.
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