It was on April 1, a week into the first lockdown, when Mahindra & Mahindra announced an initiative for its employees. Termed ‘Create the Future Challenge’, it was the company’s way of urging them to think of new ideas, some of which could even be put into practice.

“We told them to form teams and take any theme where we, as an organisation, could create an impact,” says Rajesh Jejurikar, ED. The response was overwhelming, with 7,000 people participating through 1,800 teams. The company has now chosen to implement 650 ideas and proposals.

“We had given them 30 days, which was extended because people wanted more time,” he adds. Right now, M&M is carrying out a final evaluation of the winners for these 650 ideas to be implemented.

For now, Jejurikar is keeping an eye on other opportunities that could crop up in the Covid-19 era, especially with consumer behavioural patterns tipped to change in the new normal. “You have two kinds of segments that will emerge: one is entry-level personal mobility since people will be wary of public transport, shared mobility, etc,” he says.

This will spur them into opting for small/used cars and two-wheelers.

The second segment will be a bigger vehicle for those who have a chauffeur and this is where M&M is hopeful of attracting buyers. “While these two will be emerging opportunities, the third and really big one will be goods movements for e-commerce,” says Jejurikar.

In his view, people will buy more and more stuff online rather than go to a store themselves. “You will need that much more last-mile goods delivery for groceries and foodstuffs, which will spawn opportunities for small commercial vehicles,” he says. Clearly, M&M will be hoping to make the most of this situation.

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