Mahindra

The company’s automotive roots are intertwined with Jeep. After being established as an Indian steel trader in 1945 as Mahindra and Mohammed, brothers J C Mahindra and K C Mahindra formed Mahindra & Mahindra two years later to build Jeeps in Mumbai under licence from Willys. It also became the official Indian importer of Jeeps. In subsequent decades the company became renowned for its light commercial vehicles and, especially, tractors. It became established in Australia for the latter but a first attempt to import Mahindra vehicles – with a war-surplus Jeep powered by a Peugeot diesel – fell by the wayside before local, multi-franchise automotive family, the Tynans, launched the Pik-up ute in 2007. Their TMI Pacific company formed a joint venture with Mahindra a year later to form Mahindra Automotive Australia, with the XUV500 SUV (2012) and Genio ute (2013) bolstering the local offerings.