MAM
M&M’s Scorpio wins rave reviews in 2002
MUMBAI: Mahindra & Mahindra’s indigenously engineered SUV Scorpio ended 2002 with three prestigious National awards – the Car of the Year Award from Business Standard Motoring; the Best SUV of the Yearby BBC on Wheels; and the Best Car of the Year award from BBC on Wheels.
For all three awards, entries were received from all the leading automobile manufacturers and the Scorpio came out a clear winner. Evaluation was done on various technical parameters and after the vehicles were put under various gruelling tests by independent automobile experts. All the three awards come as an enormous success for M&M, which have seen the Scorpio developed indigenously from concept to commercial production. M&M sold approximately 1400 Scorpios in December 2002.
Commenting on winning these awards, Mahindra and Mahindra executive director & president, automotive sector Alan Durante said: “Every member of the M&M family today stands proud, thanks to the phenomenal success of the Scorpio. The Scorpio although indigenously developed is truly a world-class vehicle, which aptly bridges the gap between style & adventure, luxury & ruggedness and performance & economy. These awards surely challenge us to set higher standards and strive for bettering our own performance, so that the customer proudly drives around in a world class car.”
Currently the Scorpio has a waiting period of over two months, says a release. One of the publications which gave an award gave rave reviews to Scorpio: “ The Scorpio has won by dint of being a product designed, developed and executed with the Indian consumer in mind, yet benchmarked against contemporary international models.”
Brands
UltraTech Cement appoints Jayant Dua as managing director
Dua will succeed K. C. Jhanwar after his term ends in December 2026
MUMBAI: UltraTech Cement, the flagship cement arm of the Aditya Birla Group, has elevated Jayant Dua as managing director, effective 1 April, 2026.
The company’s board also approved his appointment as additional director, managing director and key managerial personnel, effective 1 January, 2027, following the completion of the current managing director K C Jhanwar’s term on 31 December, 2026, according to a regulatory filing.
Dua will serve as managing director for a four-year term from 1 January, 2027 to 31 December, 2030.
A veteran executive with more than 37 years of professional experience, Dua joined the Aditya Birla Group’s cement business in 1996 and spent nearly a decade in various functional and leadership roles.
Over the past two decades, he has held several profit-and-loss and chief executive responsibilities across multiple group businesses, including insulators, insurance, Century Cement and the chlor-alkali segment. In 2023, he was elevated to lead the group’s renewables and textiles businesses.
Within the group, Dua has received several internal honours, including the chairman’s individual award for exceptional contribution in 2002, the outstanding leader award in 2009 and the leader of leaders recognition in 2022.
He holds an engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, an MBA from International Management Institute and has completed the advanced management programme at Harvard Business School.
