商業報道
Mahindra & Mahindra
馬恒達呀馬恒達
SUVival of the fittest
最適的運動型多功能車
Mahindra has become the pin-up of Indian capitalism—a home-grown automotive champion.
馬恒達廣受印度資本家喜愛—系國產汽車冠軍。
Now it must resist complacency and be prepared to take bigger risks
現在,它必須杜絕得意忘形,為更大的挑戰做好準備。
INSIDE Anand Mahindra, an Indian tycoon, there is a rebel bursting to get out. He works amid aircraft models and walls of framed posters and has a mildly indiscreet Twitter account with a million followers.
在印度企業大亨阿南德·馬欣德拉心里,有一個叛逆小人要爆發沖出來。
A former film student at Harvard, he describes his country's malaise using the metaphor of Star Wars.
他從事于飛機模型制造和帶框裝飾畫的墻壁,擁有一個些微張揚的推特號,關注者百萬。
Graft and cronyism in India are like an evil Empire that has struck back.
作為一名哈佛電影系學生,他用把國內不安的現狀比喻成星球大戰。
His hope is that middle-class and young Indians become Jedi knights to battle the Dark Side.
印度的貪污和任人唯親風氣就像一個邪惡帝國回擊著,而他的希望就是,中產階級和印度青年們化身為絕地武士與黑暗面斗爭。
Most of the time, though, Mr Mahindra, aged 58, is a senior statesman—the acceptable face of Indian capitalism, especially since the retirement in 2012 of the admired Ratan Tata from Tata Sons.
盡管年已58的馬欣德拉在大多數情況下被視為政界元老—受歡迎的印度資本家面目,尤其是倍受崇敬的Rantan Tata在2012年從塔塔集團退休后。
Mahindra & Mahindra dominates India's market for sport-utility vehicles and is the world's largest tractor firm by volume, selling them in India and abroad—it is sufficiently entrenched in America to sponsor Texan bull-riding tournaments.
馬恒達集團主導印度SUV市場,其拖拉機傾銷國內外,在銷售數量上成為世界最大的拖拉機制造商—在美國有足夠能力贊助德克薩斯騎野牛競標賽。
It is not huge, being the fifth-biggest Indian family group by sales and the 17th largest Indian firm by market capitalisation.
馬恒達并不大—按銷售額算,排印度第五大家族企業;按市場資金算,僅排第17位。
But it is notable in several ways.
但是該公司在其他方面很著名。
First, it is a rare Indian manufacturing success—and has created its technology at home.
首先,馬恒達是印度少有的制造業成功典例—并在國內創造了自己的技術。
Indian conglomerates are often financial quagmires but Mahindra has high returns and little debt, and uses capital efficiently.
印度聯合企業常陷入經濟困境,但是馬恒達收益很高,幾乎沒有債務,資金也得到有效利用。
In a country where power is dynastic it is the business house closest to being controlled by outside investors: the family and its allies own only 25%.
在這個權力世襲的國家,商業才是最有可能被外來投資者控制的:家族和其合盟者只占25%。
Mr Mahindra is the third generation, and probably the last, to be boss—there is no obvious family successor. Lastly, the group is known for avoiding cronyism.
馬欣德拉是第三代領導班子,也許是最后一代——沒有一個明顯的家族繼承者。最后,這個集團在反任人唯親方面做得很出色。
Mr Mahindra has kept away from industries that require a competence for lobbying, and says he avoids Delhi, India's capital, like the plague.
馬欣德拉遠離了需要游說能力的企業,他說他避開了首都德里,例如瘟疫。
The magic formula has ordinary ingredients:
神奇公式的因式組成很普通:
luck and judgment.
幸運和判斷力。
When India liberalised in 1991 Mahindra was sprawling and flabby like many of its peers—making everything from jeeps to lifts.
1991年印度獨立時,馬欣德拉像其他許多同齡人一樣,漫無目的,性情疲軟。
It slimmed fast, perhaps because the family's low stake made it vulnerable to a takeover.
企業經濟縮減很快,也許是因為家族占比低,使得企業很容易被收購。
In 1993 it hired PawanGoenka, a veteran of Detroit, who now runs the automotive unit.
1993年,馬恒達聘請了底特律老兵PawanGoenka,他現在掌管汽車部門。
Then came a fall in property prices, in 1997-98, which stretched the firm's finances and forced it into some hard choices, says Bharat Doshi, a director.
一位名叫Bharat Doshi的經理敘述說,之后,1997年和1998年,迎來了一次房地產價格的下降,公司經濟緊張,被迫做出一些艱難的選擇。
Rather than put more cash into a joint venture with Ford, Mahindra backed its own SUV project.
馬欣德拉堅持了自己的SUV計劃,并沒有投入更多的現金在與福特合資的企業中。
By 2002 a model called the Scorpio was born and by 2005 it was a huge hit.
到2002年,一個代號為蝎子的模型誕生了,到2005年,成效顯著。
More good decisions have come since then.
從那以后,所做的正確決定越來越多。
New SUV models were launched.
新的SUV模型推出了。
In 2007 Mahindra had a sniff at Jaguar Land Rover, a British carmaker, but backed off.
2007年,馬欣德拉拒絕了英國一家汽車制造商捷豹路虎,但是后來又放棄了。
Although JLR has since prospered under Tata's control, the 1 billion of cash it ate up in the first year of its new ownership would have overwhelmed Mahindra, which then had a market capitalisation of only 4 billion.
盡管自此之后JRL在塔塔集團的管理之下蓬勃發展,但是在第一年里,它吞下新買主的10億美元很有可能對馬恒達造成沖擊,因為之后其市值僅為40億美元。
In 2009 Mahindra bought Satyam, an IT-services firm that had been floored by a huge fraud.
2009年,馬恒達收購了薩蒂揚。這是一家信息技術咨詢與服務供應商,曾遭受慘重欺騙。
It fully merged Satyam with its own IT arm in June, lowering its stake to 26% in the process but helping to boost the value of the combined entity, which has reached 6 billion.
在6月,馬恒達完全將薩蒂揚與本公司IT部合并,在這一過程中,持股降低到26%,但是幫助提高了聯合體的價值,這一數值達到了60億美元。
The big worry is that Mahindra will have a Nokia moment, when an apparently unassailable position crumbles.
較大的擔憂就是,馬恒達可能出現諾基亞時刻,到那時,明顯攻不可破的地位也會崩塌。
The Indian SUV unit contributes about 55% of operating profits and cashflow.
印度SUV產業對操作利潤和資金流轉做出的貢獻比占總量的55%。
It has a market share of 41% according to Hitesh Goel of Kotak, a broker.
據Kotak的經紀人Hitesh Goel所說,SUV現已有41%的市場份額。
Its returns on capital are tremendous, partly reflecting a relatively low level of technology investment.
資金的收益極大,這部分反映出技術投資相對較低。
Tractors, also with a 41% market share, contribute one-third of profits—and demand is booming thanks to this year's heavy monsoon rains.
拖拉機也占41%的市場份額,獲得的收益占總收益的1/3—需求的增長多虧了今年的滂沱季風雨。
Max Warburton of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, notes that the global SUV craze has created other successful specialists—China has Great Wall, a firm now worth 20 billion.
伯恩斯坦研究公司的麥克斯沃伯頓指出,全球SUV時尚促成了一些其他成功行家—中國的長城企業現值200億美元。
But Mahindra's strong position in its home market is vulnerable to attack from the global carmaking giants, as they seek to diversify away from the unprofitable mass market for conventional cars towards such profitable niches.
但是馬恒達強有力的位置只限于國內市場,很容易受到來自全球汽車制造巨頭的攻擊,就像他們企圖在不獲利的大眾市場來尋求傳統汽車的多樣化,使之轉向為有利可圖的商機。
Renault and Ford have launched new SUVs and now everyone and his uncle, cat and dog is leaping in, says HormazdSorabjee, editor of Autocar India.
《印度汽車》編輯HormazdSorabjee這樣說:雷諾和福特推出了新的SUV。
In tractors, too, foreign firms are developing the smaller machines that tend to do best in India, says AbhijeetNaik of CLSA, another broker.
另外一位來自CLSA的經紀人AbhijeetNaik也表示:同樣的,在拖拉機方面,外國公司也正在發展更小型的拖拉機,試圖做到印度最好。
Mahindra is not asleep at the wheel.
馬恒達也并沒有心不在焉。
It has new SUV models in the pipeline and a rural distribution network that will be hard for rivals to replicate.
它在管道上建立了新的SUV模型,以及一個難以被競爭者復制的農電網。
Still, it makes sense for it to invest in new areas.
并且,如果它投資在新的領域,也很有意義。
In 2011 it bought SsangYong, an ailing South Korean firm, and is nursing it back to health.
2011年,馬恒達收購了一家衰落的韓國公司Ssang Yong,逐漸使其恢復正常運營。
Mahindra hopes to use its brand to build a presence in pickup trucks and two-wheelers—efforts which analysts tend to hate, arguing that both product lines are losing money and face formidable competitors.
馬恒達希望能用現有的牌子在小型卡車和自行車領域建立一席之地—分析家討厭這樣的努力成果,他們認為這兩條生產線都在賠錢并且將面對強大的對手。
Yet taken together these three experimental areas are hardly big bets, consuming only about one-fifth of the group's underlying cashflow.
但是如果僅用掉集團1/5潛在流轉資金,來把這三項實驗性領域都集中起來,這并不是什么大賭注。
Mahindra spends only 170m a year on research and development—1.9% of its market value.
每年馬恒達在研發上只花費1.7億美元—市值的1.9%。
It has a conservative balance-sheet, with no almost no net debt once you exclude the liabilities in its listed finance arm.
它的資產負債表很穩定,如果你將財政分部的債務除開,馬恒達幾乎沒有凈負債。
Sometimes being an admired firm is a trap.
其實有時成為一個受人仰慕的公司是個坑。
Investors get addicted to steady cashflows and become jittery about risky new projects.
投資者一心想穩定資金流轉,對于新的風險投資項目會顯得過分緊張。
Mahindra could legitimately invest heavily in developing big tractors for the American market, trying to export more SUVs under its own brand or SsangYong's, and broadening its rural presence into new areas such as logistics.
馬恒達會對美國市場進行大型拖拉機的大規模正當投資,寄望于能夠在自身或者Ssang Yong的品牌下出口更多的SUV,擴大農村市場到新的領域,比如物流。
It could also buy a Western car firm, to acquire better technology—already it is considering a new research centre in Britain.
它還有可能買下另外一個西方的汽車公司,來獲取更好的技術—馬恒達已經在考慮在英國建一個研究中心。
Mr Mahindra says it is not in our culture to bet the ranch.
馬欣德拉說:在我們文化里并不會拿全部家當做賭注。
But it must not be too conservative either.
但是它也不能太保守。
Capitalism only works when the best firms rebel a bit and take some risks.
只有當最好的公司些微有點叛逆意識,并敢冒險時,資本主義才會奏效。