“Dr.Lakshmi has been a key member of our leadership team and a member of TAFE’s Board. In appreciation of her impactful contribution, the board is pleased to appoint her as Vice-Chairman. With her leadership style that is focused on building for the future, we look forward to her leveraging TAFE’s collaborative, value-based approach towards its vision of cultivating the world,” Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, said in a release.
“I thank the board for placing their trust in me. I look forward to working closely with the board and the teams at TAFE and Eicher Tractors to strengthen our organization and drive continued success to achieve our strategic goals,” the release quoted Lakshmi as saying.
Daughter of Mallika Srinivasan, Lakshmi is also the Managing Director of Sundaram-Clayton Ltd., a leading automotive component manufacturer. She is a graduate from Yale University and a Doctorate in Engineering Management from the University of Warwick, U.K.
The elevation of Lakshmi comes at a time when TAFE is pursuing an aggressive strategy to expand and strengthen its global footprint and ring-fence its domestic leadership position in an evolving business environment.
TAFE was incorporated in 1960 in Chennai. One of the largest tractor manufacturers in the world and the second-largest in India by volume, TAFE sells over 180,000 tractors annually. A strong distribution network of over 1,600 dealers effectively supports TAFE’s four iconic tractor brands – Massey Ferguson, TAFE, Eicher Tractors and IMT. TAFE exports tractors to more than 80 countries. In 2005, TAFE acquired the tractors, engines and transmissions business of the Eicher brand with German roots, through a wholly-owned subsidiary – TAFE Motors and Tractors Limited (TMTL). Beyond tractors,
TAFE and its subsidiaries have diversified business interests in areas such as farm machinery, diesel engines and gensets, agro-industrial engines, engineering plastics, gears and transmission components, hydraulic pumps and cylinders, vehicle franchises, and plantations. TAFE acquired the iconic Serbian tractor and agricultural equipment brand IMT – Industrija Mašina i Traktora in 2018. Further, TAFE acquired FAURECIA’s Indian interior business of Group FORVIA – the French global automotive supplier, in 2022.
