TVS Motor brings the curtain down on the 'K N Radhakrishnan era'

After 18 years at the helm, K N Radhakrishnan's exit marks the end of an era at TVS Motor, which he helped transform into a global two-wheeler powerhouse

When K N Radhakrishnan, KNR to his colleagues, steps down as chief executive officer of TVS Motor Company next year he will do so not only as an Indian auto industry leader but also as one of the longest-serving occupants of the corner office in the sector. 

On Friday, the Chennai-based company announced the appointment of Frenchman Peyman Kargar as director and CEO effective January 27, 2027, marking the end of the ‘KNR era’ in TVS Motor, a group he served for more than 40 years, 18 of them as CEO. 

Radhakrishnan is credited with steering TVS through some tough times. 

While much of the credit for the company’s success in the last two decades goes to the chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan and his son Sudarshan Venu, who is the current chairman-managing director, people close to the company say it was Radhakrishnan who executed the plans to perfection. 

According to Srinivasan, Radhakrishnan’s hallmark is his commitment to both the company and the consumers. “He will be one of the longest-serving CEOs in the Indian automobile industry. When he took charge of the company in 2008, it was struggling. In the last 18 years, TVS Motor got transformed into a global automotive motorcycle company, arguably the world’s third-largest manufacturer by annual volume. Both sales and profit witnessed a phenomenal rise,” Srinivasan told Business Standard. 

In 2008-09, TVS’ annual two-wheeler sales were 1.34 million units, revenue was ₹3,741 crore, and net profit was ₹31.08 crore. That was the year TVS began making three-wheelers. 

In FY26, the company registered a growth of 24 per cent with total sales increasing from 4.74 million units in FY25 to 5.89 million units. Two-wheeler sales grew 23 per cent from 4.61 million units in FY25 to 5.67 million units in FY26. Three-wheelers sales grew 63 per cent from 135,000 units to 219,000 units over the period. 

Total exports registered a growth of 33 per cent with sales increasing from 1.19 million units in FY25 to 1.59 million units in FY26. 

Revenue grew around 11-fold to ₹47,270 crore, and net profit came in at ₹3,615 crore. The company’s market capitalisation stood at ₹2.04 trillion on Friday. 

“His leadership, passion, and commitment have helped shape the company into the strong organisation it is today. I am personally grateful for his valuable counsel, guidance and support,” Sudarshan said.

 

Key contributions 

Radhakrishnan took charge of the company during one of its most difficult times, when automobile pundits had written it off, calling its motorcycle and scooter portfolio ‘weak’. Due to the TVS-Suzuki partnership break-up in September 2001, he also had to build up product and technology capabilities. 

The improvement in quality and introduction of new products such as Apache and Jupiter played a key role in company’s rise.

The company set up an overseas plant in Indonesia in 2007 and also aggressively entered the three-wheeler segment, after KNR took charge. It now has a presence in over 90 countries, which contribute 25 per cent of the overall business. Radhakrishnan also pushed the company from the traditional commuter-bike space into premium motorcycles and scooters.

He was also the mastermind behind a premiumisation drive through deals such as TVS–BMW Motorrad in 2013 that helped TVS enter the premium global motorcycle space, said a source. In the last decade, volumes saw a huge jump through products like Jupiter, Zest, Victor, Apache RTR 200, NTORQ 125, Apache RR 310 and Radeon. 

By that time, Sudarshan also started leading from the front through key acquisitions like iconic British brand Norton Motorcycles in April 2020. After Covid, one of the major moves under Radhakrishnan was the launch of the electric brand iQube, which is already the market leader in electric two-wheelers.

 

People’s man 

According to a person who worked closely with Radhakrishnan, he had few friends outside the TVS Group, with one of KNR’s close family members telling the official, “For KNR, TVS is his family, his life is TVS.” 

That stands to reason. He joined as a management trainee in a TVS Group company, Sundaram-Clayton Ltd, back in 1984, and rose through the ranks. He joined TVS Motor in 2000 as head of business planning, and in August 2008 as CEO. 

Radhakrishnan will continue as non-executive director up to the AGM scheduled in July 2027.