Learning from the competitor: How Tata and M&M are revving up for play-offs

As the difference between the third and fourth player narrows, the next six months will be a toss-up between the two companies for market leadership and volume growth

There is nothing unusual about cross auto diplomacy at motor shows, with top guns of companies visiting their competitors' pavilions. But at the 2018 Auto Expo in February, when Anand Mahindra, executive chairman of Mahindra Group, spent close to 30 minutes at the Tata Motors dugout, it became a talking point. 

Mahindra was seen checking out Tata Motors' H5X and 45X concepts (offerings from the company's advanced modular platform architecture that would underpin its future cars and SUV models) and engaging in a deep and animated conversation with Pratap Bose, head of design at Tata Motors. Later, N Chandrasekaran, chairman