Mahindra was founded in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed, and the brothers kept the M&M initials when the name changed. In 2021 its SUVs got a badge of their own: two Ms called Twin Peaks.
- Country
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India - Active
- Since 1945
- Founded by
- JC Mahindra, KC Mahindra and Ghulam Mohammed
- Website
- Official website ↗
Two brothers, a partner and a pair of initials
Mahindra didn’t start out as Mahindra & Mahindra. On 2 October 1945, the brothers JC and KC Mahindra set up a company with Ghulam Mohammed, and they called it Mahindra & Mohammed. Two independent histories place the start in Ludhiana, in Punjab, and describe it as a steel trading business.
Then came Partition. Ghulam Mohammed moved to Pakistan, where he became the country’s first Finance Minister and later its Governor-General. The story goes that the brothers already had plenty of stationery printed with the letters M&M, so they kept the initials and changed the second name to their own. According to EBSCO’s reference history, the company became Mahindra & Mahindra in 1948. It is based in Mumbai.
The Jeep lands in Bombay
The move into vehicles came fast. In 1949, in Mahindra’s own words, the Jeep hit Indian shores: 75 Jeeps arrived from Willys Overland Export Corporation in the USA as kits and were assembled at Mazagon, Bombay. That link to the Jeep shaped everything Mahindra built for decades. Tractors followed, and in 1979 the company took a licence from Peugeot to build diesel engines.
From the road ahead to Twin Peaks
If you’re confused by Mahindra’s logos, you’re not alone. The company uses more than one, and each has a job.
The first one to know is the Road Ahead logo. Mahindra says the millennium year brought a new group logo, signifying the road ahead. It is still in use: when Mahindra gave its SUVs a new badge in 2021, it kept the Road Ahead logo for its commercial vehicles and farm equipment.
The badge you see on a modern Mahindra SUV is the Twin Peaks logo, unveiled on 9 August 2021. According to Mahindra, the two Ms inside it symbolise an expansive and exciting future built on a solid heritage. It was inspired by the brand statement “Explore the Impossible” and is meant to reflect the ambition and ability to take on new challenges head on. The whole identity was designed by the Mahindra Design Team, and the XUV700 was the first vehicle to wear it.
Rise: the group’s own signature
There’s a third mark, and it belongs to the wider Mahindra Group rather than the cars. In January 2011 the group launched Rise, a brand positioning meant to give all its companies one voice. A new hand-drawn wordmark followed. Mahindra says it was unveiled internally in 2012, and Business Today reported its public launch in January 2013, when the red wordmark replaced a black one. It comes with a graphic called the Ridge, which Mahindra says was inspired by the ridges of Mount Everest that lead to its summit, a symbol of the path to your potential.
Red, grey and charcoal
Red runs through the group. Mahindra describes the Rise wordmark’s colour as an energetic red, a deeper shade of the signature Mahindra red. The SUV side went darker in 2021: alongside the Twin Peaks logo, the dealerships moved to charcoal as the main colour, with grey and red as accents.
Built for bad roads
Mahindra’s story on wheels runs from wartime Jeeps to electric SUVs, with a lot of mud in between.
Landmark Mahindras, decade by decade
- 1949: Willys Jeep. The first 75 Jeeps came from Willys Overland Export Corporation as kits and were put together at Mazagon, Bombay.
- 1964: The Pope’s Jeep. Mahindra built a special Jeep for Pope Paul VI’s appearance at the Eucharistic Congress in Bombay on 3 December 1964.
- 2000: Bolero. Launched in the same year as the Road Ahead group logo.
- 2002: Scorpio. The SUV that Mahindra later followed with the Scorpio-N in 2022.
- 2021: XUV700. The first vehicle to wear the Twin Peaks logo.
- 2025: BE 6 and XEV 9e. Launched on 14 February 2025, built on Mahindra’s INGLO electric architecture.
Mahindra has collected other badges along the way. In 2010 it bought the Indian electric car maker Reva, and for roughly a decade from the early 2010s it held a controlling stake in South Korea’s SsangYong, before deciding in 2020 that it would stop putting money in. A consortium led by Edison Motors agreed to buy SsangYong in 2022. At home, Mahindra shares the Indian market with Tata and Maruti Suzuki. For more on how marks like these are built, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Mahindra SUV logo mean?
It is called the Twin Peaks logo. According to Mahindra, the two Ms inside it symbolise an expansive and exciting future built on a solid heritage, inspired by the brand statement “Explore the Impossible”.
Why does Mahindra have different logos?
Each logo has its own job. The Twin Peaks logo is for the SUVs, the Road Ahead logo from 2000 stays on commercial vehicles and farm equipment, and the red Rise wordmark represents the wider Mahindra Group.
When did Mahindra change its logo?
The Twin Peaks logo was unveiled on 9 August 2021 and first appeared on the XUV700.
What was Mahindra’s original name?
Mahindra & Mohammed. It was founded on 2 October 1945 by JC and KC Mahindra with Ghulam Mohammed, and after Ghulam Mohammed left for Pakistan the name became Mahindra & Mahindra, keeping the M&M initials.
Steel trading to Twin Peaks: the M&M register
- Founded
- 1945
- Founder
- JC Mahindra, KC Mahindra and Ghulam Mohammed
- Country
- India
- Headquarters
- Mumbai, India
- Parent company
- Mahindra Group
- Current emblem
- The Twin Peaks logo, built around two Ms, introduced on the XUV700 in August 2021
- Known for
- Jeep-derived utility vehicles and SUVs like the Scorpio and XUV700
- Website
- Official website ↗
