MAM
Martin Sorrell bullish on India
MUMBAI: WPP chief executive officer Martin Sorrell is bullish about India’s economy. He believes the GST switchover pangs and demonetisation were only temporary hiccups.
Lauding India’s growth rate, Sorrell mentioned that India continued to remain among the fastest growing economies of the world, the Economic Times reported. When one had legislative change which brought about significant social change, it would lead to disruption. That was short-term pain for long-term gain, he said.
Sorrell, who was in India yesterday to attend the company’s first board meeting, announced the appointment of CVL Srinivas as the new country head. He also hinted that GroupM, which is a part of WPP network, was seek good acquisitions.
Sorrell said he did not believe internet companies such as Facebook and Google were particularly technology companies. They were media companies but took the position publicly as technology companies, which was wrong. He also shared that Facebook hired 4000 employees for its editorial content and social media companies should take responsibility of the content they put out.
He said he believed the technology companies had to take responsibility of their contents appearing on extremist sites or whatever happened to be — about consumer brands, safety, about transparency, about fraud, about bots, about fake news, all those issues, he added.
About characterising what the world was beyond India, he said, it was not growing at six per cent or 5.7 per cent. People would give their eye, teeth, they would cut off their limbs to grow at that sort of rate. The world, he said, was growing at around three to four per cent.
The UK would be lucky if it grew at a couple of percents. In the US, President Trump would like to see the growth at four per cent, he concluded.
Brands
Madhurendra Malu appointed genesis vertical head at Hyundai
Hyundai taps luxury veteran to steer Genesis debut and growth
GURUGRAM: Hyundai Motor Company India has appointed Madhurendra Malu as vertical head for Genesis, tasking the seasoned auto executive with leading the luxury marque’s official entry and long term growth in the Indian market.
Based in Gurugram, Malu will oversee the brand’s end to end mandate, from luxury positioning and network strategy to crafting a high touch customer experience. The role puts him at the centre of Hyundai’s push to establish Genesis as a serious contender in India’s elite automotive segment.
He joins Hyundai after a short but high impact stint at JSW MG Motor India, where he served as head of sales and earlier as head of CEM and network development. During his time there, Malu helped build the MG Select premium retail format from the ground up. The initiative saw the appointment of 13 dealer partners and the launch of 15 showrooms across 14 cities, with spaces designed to feel more like art galleries than conventional car outlets.
In a farewell note to his MG colleagues, Malu described the experience as a defining chapter. He said the role demanded constant sprints from day one, spanning dealer development, marketing, sales, planning, strategy and execution. Despite the intensity, he called the journey deeply fulfilling and expressed pride in helping lay the foundation of a premium automotive brand in India.
Before MG, Malu held senior leadership roles at Škoda Auto Volkswagen India, where he led business and brand development as well as network expansion. He also spent over 16 years at Maruti Suzuki, rising through multiple regional and national sales roles, including commercial business head for the Nexa network in the southern region.
With experience across mass, premium and near luxury segments, Malu’s appointment signals Hyundai’s intent to treat Genesis not just as another launch, but as a carefully curated luxury play. As the brand prepares to enter the Indian market, all eyes will be on how this new captain steers the flagship.
