 "Reva founder Maini quits company")
After being at the helm for two decades, the 43-year-old veteran, whose company was taken over by Mumbai-based sports utility vehicle market leader Mahindra & Mahidra about five years ago, has decided to call it a day. He will move out of the company by the end of April.
Confirming his exit as CEO of Mahindra Reva, Maini said: “The business has reached a level where it can move on its own to a higher level. I have been associated with the company for 20 long years, during which time I learnt so much from it.”
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The sorry state of electric cars of in India, which is on life support system in the form of subsidies given by a handful of states, mirrors the many struggles Maini had to face.
After wining the solar car challenge, Maini joined hands with Amerigon Electric, founded by the father of one of his close colleagues in California in 1991. Subsequently, in 1994, Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) was born, named after Maini's mother, which in Sanskrit means 'a new beginning'.
However, RECC's maiden launch came only seven years later. Maini, a tech genius with a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford, had to don the hat of an entrepreneur, chasing financial companies to fund his dream project.
“Many just laughed it off back then and such reactions were expected,” Maini noted in a recent interaction with Business Standard. However, In late 2006, venture capitalist Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Global Environment Fund invested $20 million in Reva Motors. At that time, 1,800 Reva cars were on the road with 600 of them running in the UK.
A tiny all-electric two-seater named Reva hit the market in 2001 costing more than twice as expensive as a compact four seater, petrol powered hatchback.
Though incentives became a norm in markets where Maini had his academia, the concept of electric cars for the Indian market was much ahead of its time.
Reva was written off as a failure many months after its global launch. While poor consumer response hit sales at home, poorer product reviews by motoring magazines abroad dented demand in export markets such as the UK.
Signs of resurrection came nearly a decade later when the world's largest car maker, General Motors, forged an agreement with Reva to develop electric vehicles for India. In 2010, Anand Mahindra-led Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) bought 55 per cent stake in RECC, forcing it to dissolve its American partnership.
“Today, we have the manufacturing plant, we have three-four new products ready and the company is set on a definite course of growth. I have achieved the dream of making Reva what it is today. Though I will no longer be managing the company, I will remain invested as a shareholder. I will still pursue ambitions in the electric vehicle space, but no definite target areas identified yet,” Maini added.
After the M&M takeover, there have been a series of break-throughs. In 2013, Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles launched the e2o, a four-seater electric car, giving 100 km to a full charge. M&M entered into Formula E Racing last year. There are plans to have M&M's own range of small vehicles such as a car and a light commercial vehicle to be run on batteries. It will also be launching a high power, electric sports car Halo in near future.
Maini confirmed that former Ford India president and managing director Arvind Mathew, who has been the CEO of Tata Advanced Materials for the past four years, will take over as the new CEO of Mahindra Reva from May 1.
CHETAN MAINI
Education
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, University of Michigan
- Master's in mechanical engineering, Stanford University
- Joins Amerigon Electric Vehicle and later General Motors
- Co-founded Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) in 1994
- Launches Reva in 2001
- Appointed chief executive and chief technology officer at Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles
- Launches the e2o and unveils electric sport car Halo