Mahindra marks production milestone with flagship EV

Mahindra & Mahindra has celebrated the production of its three millionth vehicle at its Chakan manufacturing facility in India, with the milestone vehicle being its flagship BE 6 electric SUV.

The company says the rollout reflects the plant’s evolution into a future-ready manufacturing hub capable of producing both internal combustion engine and electric vehicles, while supporting Mahindra’s growing global export programme.

Mahindra president Velusamy Ramasamy says the milestone highlights both accelerating demand and the company’s investment in advanced manufacturing.

“The rollout of our three-millionth vehicle, the BE 6, from Chakan marks a proud milestone in Mahindra’s manufacturing journey,” he says.

“The acceleration from 107 months for our first million vehicles to just 27 months for the latest million reflects the growing trust of our customers and the unwavering commitment of our people, partners, and suppliers.”

The Chakan facility produced its first vehicle in December 2009. Mahindra says it reached its latest one million vehicles in just 27 months – almost four times faster than it took to produce its first million.

Ramasamy says the facility combines advanced manufacturing technologies with lean production systems.

“Chakan combines Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, IoT, 5G connectivity, advanced robotics, digital traceability, and flexible multi-model manufacturing, underpinned by Lean and TPM practices.

“Together, these capabilities enable us to deliver world-class quality, agility, and scale while advancing responsible manufacturing. As we continue to build world-class products in India for India and the world, Chakan will remain at the heart of our manufacturing excellence.”

The 657-acre manufacturing hub produces 19 vehicle models and more than 450 variants across passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and electric vehicles.

Mahindra says the site uses about 1,500 robots, with more than 98% automation in its body shop, alongside robotic painting, automated sealant application, real-time weld monitoring, 3D component scanning and autonomous mobile robots for material handling.

The company says sustainability is also a focus at the facility, with more than 50% of its energy supplied by renewable sources. Electric vehicle production at Chakan operates on 100% renewable energy.

The plant is also water positive, returning the equivalent of 131% of the water it uses back to nature, and has achieved Zero Waste to Landfill certification.

Vehicles built at Chakan are exported to a range of international markets, including Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.