Mahindra & Mahindra’s makeover, powered by EVs

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.