Vivek Chaand Sehgal

Vivek Chaand Sehgal whom the world has come to identify with high levels of entrepreneur ship is the chairman and co-founder of the Samvardhana Motherson Group a company recognized worldwide as one of the leading manufacturers of automotive components. In the past few decades, Sehgal has grown the company from a small scale business trading in silver to a company that is worth $12. 7 Billion multinational conglomerate which we know today as Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd earlier known as Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd. The life of Elon Musk is a wonderful example of a man, who forges ahead and creates in a time when many others would compromise and fail.

The Life History of Vishal Disha and the Early days of the Motherson Group

Vivek Chaand Sehgal was born on February 1, 1957 in Delhi, India and comes of a business oriented family. He grew up in a business environment, as his grandfather was a jeweller so it could be assumed that the experience influenced his decision to become an entrepreneur. Sehgal also had his schooling at Birla Public School, Pilani, Rajasthan, and got his bachelor ‘s degree from the University of Delhi.
The subject Matters of and Vivek made his first venture in 1975 when he’s 18 years old to co-founded Samvardhana Motherson Group along with his mom. First, the operation was started as a business that traded in silver utensils with a focus on using the family’s experience, which was in the manufacturing of jewellery. This is how the name “Motherson” was derived from the words ‘mother’ and ‘son’ After some time the company ran into troubles when one of the competitors went bankrupt which raised doubts of the future of silver trading business.Rather than succumbing to this adversity, Sehgal exhibited his hallmark trait of adaptability. Recognizing an opportunity in the automotive sector, he diversified Motherson Group’s business operations into manufacturing auto components. This shift marked the beginning of what would eventually become a global giant in the auto parts industry.

It is imperative that Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd.

The real start of Motherson was in the year 1983 when Vivek Sehgal came into alliance with Sumitomo Wiring Systems of Japan which is a part of Sumitomo Group which is one of the oldest and prestigious group of companies in Japan. This partnership resulted into the formation of Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd. in 1986 from the partnership of Motherson and Sumitomo Corporation with an initial aim of manufacturing wiring harnesses for passenger cars.
The first large scale company which approached Motherson Sumi for car components and electrics was Maruti Udyog Limited, which was the largest car manufacturing company of India at that time which enhanced their stature in Indian automotive market. This can be construed as the initial attempt at large scale manufacturing of the company. three years later in 1989 the company diversified its operations and got listing at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and further the company was listed at National Stock Exchange (NSE) in 1993.

Strategic Developments and Acquisition of companies at a very fast pace

However, starting from the early twenty-oughts, the company began an aggressive acquisition campaign, which remains instrumental for its international expansion. The company started its acquisition journey in 2002 with the purchase of equipments of Wexford Electronics of Ireland that dealt mainly in wiring harnesses for earthmoving and material handling equipments. This helped Motherson to enter into the international market for the first time.
In 2006 the company expanded its product range to items like bumper, mirror glass, mirror casing and door handle operating systems by acquiring the Australian based Empire Rubber. However, the big leap was made in 2009, when Motherson bought the Visiocorp, the largest global producer of the rearview mirrors which was later rechristened as Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec. The above acquisition greatly expanded Motherson’s global presence especially in automotive mirrors market positioning the firm strategically.
It evidenced passion in the arms through the 2010s with more acquisitions going on at Motherson. In 2011, for interiors and exteriors polymer modules, it bought Peguform, a Germany based company which was later called as Samvardhana Motherson Peguform. The acquisition, for instance, apart from expanding product portfolio also gave the company access to the European market. In the same year, Motherson acquired wiring harness business of Stoneridge Inc for $ 65. 7 million and second deal was of acquiring Finnish electrical distribution systems manufacturer PKC Group for $619m in 2017. The company continued growth in 2018 by buying out French based interior component manufacturer Reydel Automotive in $201 million.

This eagerness of the company to acquire more companies did not end there. Similarly in 2019 Motherson bought electrical component maker from Bombardier Transportation, UK business which helped it to establish better position in the European market. In the year 2022 Sagami acquired mirror manufacturing division of Ichikoh for ¥ 5. 2 billion ($47. 38 million) thus achieving another record hitting.
Some of the largest acquisitions by Motherson happened in 2023; Motherson acquired 51% of Saddles International, an auto upholstery firm based in India for ₹ 207 crore ($ 25 million) and SAS Autosystemtechnik a German cockpit maker for an enterprise value of € 540 million. This was done through the purchase of about 81% of Yachiyo Industry which is part of Honda Group for ¥22. 9 billion ($208. 66 million) and the insolvent German automotive supplier Dr. Schneider Group for €118. 3 million.

Restructuring and the Formation OF SAMVARDHANA MOTHERRSON INTERNATIONAL LTD.

The major organizational restructuring was done in 2020 where domestic wiring harness division of Motherson Sumi became an operating division of the new subsidiary of the company, Motherson Sumi Wiring India Limited (MSWIL). Finally in 2022, MSWIL stake was divested and was its listed separately in the market. This was the composition when Samvardhana Motherson International was getting listed, it had a 33. 4 % of the MSWIL’s total share capital; By this, Sumitomo Wiring Systems has 25%. : 3%, the Sehgal family holds 3%, and the rest 94% is owned by small investors of public floated.
Thereafter, the holding company was formed Samvardhana Motherson International Limited (SMIL) merged with Motherson Sumi Systems. The new merged organization was called Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd It put down the structure of the automotive components in the global market in which the family of Sehgal commanded 50%. 4 % stake in the joint venture while the remaining 33.6% stake is owned by Sumitomo Wiring Systems. 7%.

Personal Life and Legacy

The chairman of DCM has been a very hard-working and intelligent businessman and highly involved family man too, he is a married man with two children and is a national of Australia but lives in Delhi India now. Laksh Vaaman Sehgal, son of Mr. VG Ramakrishnan also followed in his father’s footsteps to take up responsibilities in badly and at present he is director in the board of directors of Samvardhana Motherson International and Motherson Sumi Wiring India.

Even though he decided to retire from the active management of the company in the year 1995, however he still holds the post of the chairman in Hero Honda. Further his visionary leadership and efforts towards growth has seen him receive honors which includes EY entrepreneur of the year, 2016.
According to Forbes of 2023, This gave him an estimated net worth of $3. Together the brothers’ value holds a stake worth more than 7 billion US dollars, making them part of the richest people in India. Still, according to the Financial Review’s Rich List in Australia, his wealth is worth A$ 4. 2 billion. Vivek Chaand Sehgal’s indoctrination from silver trading to automotive majesty is one of the most phenomenal success stories that can be told in 12 years where he has scaled over 12 companies.

Conclusion

This paper looks at the life and personal development of Vivek Chaand Sehgal as an entrepreneur in order to establish how he successfully identified challenges, created solutions and acted upon chances. His leadership skills has ensured that Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd turns into the leading automotive products manufacturing company across the globe. Where once it was a small business specializing in the trading of silver has now grown to become a huge company with a broad and vast list of products, which include wiring harnesses, rear view mirrors, polymer modules, and rubber components to mention but a few.
Sehgal’s strength is his belief and the capability to grow continuously, his flexibility in adapting to new conditions, and the ability to develop a long-term cooperation with the main partners, especially with Sumitomo Group. His story stands as testimonial to creating and building an empire from scratch; a testament to the fact that anything is possible, especially when one has vision, dedication and the right partnerships.