M&M is O positive

What’s the secret behind the growing sales of Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M’s) sedan, the Verito? It just could be the last letter of its name, joked Pawan Goenka, president, automotive and farm equipment sectors. Apparently when Vilasrao Deshmukh, then chief minister of Maharashtra, inaugurated M&M’s plant at Chakan, he made the point that the brand names of all the company’s cars ended with O and suggested that the name of the Logan, the car that was produced in partnership with Renault, be changed to Logano. Certainly, with the Scorpio, Bolero and Xylo all enjoying decent sales and the Logan requiring a re-launch, Deshmukh had made a striking point. Goenka added light-heartedly, “Forget about our branding, marketing, the product or the pricing, I should have just listened to the CM and picked a different name for the Logan at the time.”