Tech Mahindra to foray into designing smart cities with Pininfarina buy

New Delhi: After acquiring a controlling stake in Italian design firm Pininfarina, Tech Mahindra plans to branch out into designing smart cities as well as providing different design solutions in various sectors.

On the back of a Pininfarina buy, the leading provider of IT, networks, engineering solutions and BPO services provider would be pitching to various customers in Europe on different design solutions. The one area where it is keen to make a dent is providing design ideas and concepts in housing and construction space. Also, in India, the company would focus of providing design ideas for the upcoming smart city projects.

“So, here is chance for Tech Mahindra, which at present provides smart city type projects with Internet of Things (IoT) as well as technology solutions to provide design concepts to these smart city projects as well. Instead of competing with my competition, I now have a leg up as I can bring to the design element first and then the technology part of it,” said Tech Mahindra Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Jagdish Mitra.

The company also plans to pitch its design services in areas where it is already present as well. "We have a lot of customers across segments in automotive, rail road, aviation including airline manufacturing setups. In mobility and transportation sector itself we have a lot many customers. We would be reaching out to clients in Europe with our design solutions," Mitra added.

He added that they presently have a number of FMCG clients and they would have talks with them on product design ideas as well. "Second category of customers is those who are in FMCG category, for example PepsiCo and Unilever. It is an opportunity for us and talk to them about designing of their products," he said.

According to Pininfarina's CEO Silvio Pietro Angori, the company which is famous for designing iconic cars such as Ferrari and Maserati does a lot more than just that and now with Tech Mahindra would expand further in the design space.

"These days where there is a need for distinctiveness in the market, customers want product unique to their taste, we design unique products. This doesn't mean these are luxurious, but they are distinctive. This is where we offer our customers a customer experience. This is where we come into play of Tech Mahindra," Angori added.

Mitra added that Tech Mahindra could well have the first mover advantage as an engineering service provider that is now into design space as well. "In the engineering services I do not see any competitor in this space and here is our chance to be a first mover. While the world talks about design led thinking and products, here is an opportunity for us to create one. We are planning to expand further into design in all these areas," he said.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.