Meet Sudarshan Venu, as he rides in to steady TVS Motor

24 year old scion of TVS Motor latest to join the board

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Unlike in other AGMs, where atleast one or two shareholders would oppose appointment of new directors or questions re-appointment of existing ones,TVS Motor's resolution to appoint 24-year old Sudarshan Venu, (son of TVS Motor's Chairman and Managing Director Venu Srinivasan), as director of the company was voted unanimously. Some of the shareholders at the company's Annual General Meeting held on Friday at Chennai went and blessed him at the stage and even offered him advise, including to start driving two-wheelers once in a while and should outperform his father.
 

The smooth transaction comes at a time when the Proxy advisory firm Institutional Investors Advisory Services (IIAS) was campaigning against Sudarshan’s appointment. The firm was saying that “though academically he(Sudarshan) is well qualified, he doesn’t have enough experience to be on the Board.”The advisory firm also questioned Sudarshan’s remuneration, which it claims goes up to Rs 4.17 crore annually (including a commission of up to one per cent of net profit and annual salary).
 

Comparing similar appointments, IIAS noted how other heirs spent considerable time in the businesses before being elevated. Rajiv Bajaj, 45, son of Rahul Bajaj, is a MD at Bajaj Auto. He joined as a special officer at 22 in the area of manufacturing and supply chain. Rishad Premji, 35, son of Azim Premji,is chief strategy officer at Wipro’s information technology business. He joined Wipro Technologies at 29 as business head for special projects in the banking and financial services division.
 

Even the Senior Venu, worked at the factory level and was elevated to the highest order in the company when he was late 20s.

But, there are others who have defended Sudarshan pointing out the that he has the right academic qualifications from some of the World's prestigious institutes.
 

He completed his graduation in 2010 with Honors at the Jerome Fisher Programme in Management and Technological at the University of Pennsylvania.He also pursued a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania which have produced number of business leaders and academicians. He completed his Masters in International Technology Management from the Warwick Manufacturing Group, an academic department at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
 

While pursuing his masters, Sudarshan underwent training in die casting division of Sundaram Clayton and in TVS Motor Company, now the fourth largest two-wheeler company in the country. It may be noted Sudarshan's sister and daughter-in-law of Infosys founder, Naryana Murthy was appointed as Director-Strategy and Vice President Global Operations of Sundaram Clayton, one of the leading auto components manufacturing and distribution group and it is also a leading supplier of aluminum die castings to automotive and non-automotive sector.
 

Sudarshan came to limelight in 2011 (the time when TVS Motor lost its third position to Honda) during the launch of new 125 CC bike Phoenix. This launch was described by outsiders as an “unofficial” announcement of succession plan by Srinivasan.

In an unusual moment, Sudarshan was driving the stylish new Phoenix 125CC and waiting on the stage to be photographed before his father and the rest of the management joined him. Till then, Venu Srinivasan was the one who will be the first one seen on the new bikes.
 

In an interview that time, Sudarshan said that this was the first product, where he has been associated with it right from the beginning. "We have a challenge on our hands, due to lack of products in the right spot,” he was quoted in a report and he was also betting big and hopeful on the Phoenix and his belief has come true now.
 

The company has been losing market share and has reported negative sales and a marginal increase in its market share. In the last three months, company's market share has increased by about 0.5 per cent, the increase was attributed to the new Phoenix that sold 10000 units, according to K N Radhakrishnan, president and chief executive officer of TVS Motor.
 

While the media shy Sudarshan was not available for comment, some of the insiders described him as soft spoken, humble and not a show off. He is willing to listen, learn and work with the old generation, said a senior official.
 

Upon his appointment as a director of TVS Motor, he has also become a whole-time director of the company for a period of five years commencing from February 2013. 
 

The task is cut out for Sudarshan, with the company facing tough times and not having seen any fresh launches in recent times. Besides,the company has also promised the shareholders that it will show better performance during the current fiscal, while it predicted that the current fiscal will continue to be challenge and industry would decline by 5%. 
 

The tie-up with BMW, will also require Sudarshan's attention, who is said to have a passion for BMW products.
 

With the market showing sluggishness and the competitors getting aggressive which was acknowledged by Senior Venu, now the challenge for the Junior is to drive TVS Motor smoothly on the road ahead….