Mahindra & Mohammed was incorporated in 1945 by KC Mahindra and Ghulam Mohammad as a manufacturer under license of the famous Willys Jeep. In 1948, KC Mahindra changed the name to Mahindra & Mahindra, and building on his expertise in the steel industry began trading steel with UK suppliers. By 1956, the company was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, and by 1969 it had entered the world market as an exporter of Utility Vehicles and spare parts. Due to the restrictions of the License Raj, Mahindra & Mahindra was forced to expand into other businesses and it created a tractor division in 1982 and a tech division (Now Tech Mahindra) in 1986. It has continued to diversify its operations ever since through joint ventures and Greenfield investments. By 1994 the group structure had bloated and diversified such that a fundamental reorganization of the company was undertaken, dividing the group into six Strategic Business Units; Automotive, Farm Equipment, Infrastructure, Trade and Financial Services, Information Technology and Automotive Components. The new Managing Director Anand Mahindra followed this reorganization with a new logo in 2000 and the successful launch of Mahindra Scorpio (a wholly indigenously designed vehicle) in 2002. In conjunction with an overhaul in production and manufacturing methods these changes did much to make the company more competitive, and since then the reputation and revenues of the group have risen noticeably. The US based Reputation Institute recently ranked Mahindra among the top 10 Indian companies in its 'Global 200: World's Best Corporate Reputations' list. As of 2007 it was also ranked one of India's 40 largest companies.
The Mahindra Group's foray into the two-wheeler segment began with the acquisition of business assets of Kinetic Motor Company Ltd. (KMCL) in 2008 extending Mahindra's pedigree into the two wheeler space.