MPW Repeat Winners: How Lakshmi Venu made Sundaram Clayton into one of India's largest auto components maker

Change is inevitable—Lakshmi Venu holds this belief as she leads one of the country’s largest auto components maker Sundaram Clayton and the billion-dollar tractor manufacturer TAFE. “It has been a journey of leveraging our core strengths, while also unlearning and relearning in other respects,” she says.

Venu, who joined Sundaram Clayton at a young age, considers the kind of mindset shift in the domestic automotive industry, especially in rural India, to be one of the humbling factors influencing her professional journey. “In my recent interactions with customers across India what I find most energising in my journey is the mindset shift happening in the country, especially in rural India,” she says.

Venu, a mother of two children, strongly believes in “adding and delivering value”. Drawing inspiration from her interactions with customers, particularly farmers, she is strengthening her skills. “Every individual, regardless of gender and age, must focus on how they can add value to the business and the team, and that has always been the focus,” says Venu.   

And for TAFE, she is considering a balanced approach towards growth and is exploring various strategies, such as the partnership with Germany’s ICE manufacturer Deutz AG and the acquisition of the Indian interior systems business of Faurecia in the automotive components sector. Venu says that for Sundram Clayton Limited, the company will retain its core strategy of technical excellence, process innovation, and investment in R&D.

Under her, the company will remain focussed on cultivating new markets. “At TAFE, our vision is to ‘Cultivate the World’, be it cultivating new markets and geographies. We believe in innovating in India for India and the world. There is surely a lot of potential to deliver enhanced value to the Indian farmers using innovations in technology today,” she says.