M&M to hit MotoGP track for global bike

INDIA will debut in MotoGP, the world's premier motorcycle championship, next season when the country's youngest motorcycle maker Mahindra 2Wheelers enters the race that may give a big push to the company's marketing and brand-building efforts.
    The two-wheeler arm of Mahindra & Mahindra will participate in the 125cc category of the world's oldest motorsports event started in 1949 and having 18 Grand Prix races across 14 countries from March 2011.
    "This category (125cc MotoGP) is relevant to people in India as bulk of the bikes are in the 110cc and 125cc," said Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of the Mahindra & Mahindra group.
    "The advertising in the recent Football World Cup (for the group's technology arm Mahindra Satyam) made us understand the power of global branding and benefited the group. So this is an interesting sequential chapter to our global branding effort," he said.
    Marketing experts believe the association with MotoGP will provide an ideal platform for Mahindra to showcase its two-wheeler technology and give its brand a boost in a market dominated by Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto.
    "The participation in MotoGP will give Mahindra 2Wheelers a leap of a few years as compared to a conventional marketing route," said Jagdeep Kapoor, MD of Samsika Marketing Consultants. He said the association will give its products a jumpstart in the international market, while its domestic sales will benefit from the halo effect. "Mahindra & Mahindra will gain recognition and credibility in a highly competitive market," said Mr Kapoor.
    Adil Jal Darukhanawala, editor of Times Zigwheels, said it is a big event for the country. "It will be a red letter day to see an Indian manufacturer turn out on the Grand Prix circuits with a bike of its own and fighting for technological brilliance against the elite," he said.
    Mahindra & Mahindra, a leader in SUVs and tractor segments, entered the two-wheeler market with gearless scooters in September last year after acquiring Pune-based Kinetic and rode in to the motorcycle market this September with the 110cc Stallio and the 300cc Mojo.
    "Since we are new in the motorcycle business, participating in such an event will help build the brand equity, showcase technology and will be a testing ground for technology that we will offer to Indian and global consumers," said Mr Mahindra. "It will enhance our entire automotive range, auto
components and IT
domains," he said.
    MotoGP, established as a world championship by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, has three racing categories: 125cc, where the maximum engine displacement is 125cc; Moto2, the 600cc four-stroke engine category; and MotoGP, where competing bikes must be prototypes with maximum engine capacity of 800cc.
    Mr Mahindra said his company will leverage the MotoGP platform to prove its engineering, design and endurance skills and compete with the best in the world. "We will be taking over an existing racing team and call them `Mahindra Racing Team'," he said.
    M&M has submitted the names of its two bikers to the International Road-Racing Teams Association and Dorna Sports, which administrates and organises all Grands Prix, and is expected to hear from them by the month end.

ANAND MAHINDRA VC & MD, MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA