United Nations Alliance of Civilisations and BMW Group has honoured India’s grassroots Initiative ‘Football and Beyond’ during the 10th UNAOC Global Forum. ‘Football and Beyond’ is the initiative of India-based organisation ‘Shreeja India’, which is one of the ten grassroots initiatives that were honoured recently under the Intercultural Innovation Hub (IIH), a joint initiative of the United Nations of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group. The joint initiative was implemented with the support of Accenture.

The ‘Football and Beyond’ initiative was honoured at a ceremony held in Cascais, Portugal, under the theme ‘United in Peace: Restoring Trust, Reshaping the Future – Reflecting on Two Decades of Dialogue for Humanity’.
The Forum convened prominent figures, political leaders, UN officials including the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, as well as representatives from civil society, academia, and the private sector, to share insights and reflect on the 20 years of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ impactful work.

The ’Football and Beyond’ initiative leverages the unifying power of football to bridge divides across diverse backgrounds while promoting inclusivity and empowerment. By using football as a development tool, the initiative integrates sports with education, mental wellness, social awareness, and skills development. This holistic approach empowers girls and uplifts communities that lack access to essential services such as basic education, nutrition, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities, paving the way for sustainable growth and social cohesion.

"Shreeja India’s inclusive tactic to empower underprivileged girls and children with a sports-based endeavour is producing powerful narratives in the grassroots of rural India. With the recognition of the Intercultural Innovation Hub, we feel more driven to connect, collaborate and contribute towards breaking barriers and building cohesive societies," said Somasree Basu, Program Manager at Shreeja India.

“With the Intercultural Innovation Hub, we celebrate outstanding initiatives implemented by extraordinary individuals working to bridge intercultural divisions in innovative and impactful ways,” said Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG People and Real Estate, Labour Relations Director. “At the BMW Group, we believe that diversity not only enhances our company but is crucial for social unity and global progress. That is why we are deeply thankful for our strong partnership with the UNAOC. This collaboration allows us to support remarkable initiatives like Shreeja India’s work in empowering underprivileged children, making a tangible difference in their communities and contributing to a better and more inclusive Indian society,” she added.

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Rapido has launched a new brand identity, transitioning from its bike-taxi origins to a multi-modal mobility ecosystem. The refresh features a wordmark-focused logo that replaces the company's original bike-centric imagery to reflect its expanded service portfolio.

The rebranding follows Rapido’s diversification into various transport and travel sectors. The platform currently facilitates over 5 million rides daily across 400 cities and has surpassed 50 million total rides.

The unified app now integrates several transport modes and adjacent services, including bike taxis, auto-rickshaws & cabs, parcel deliveries and integrated OTA services for flights, hotels, buses and trains.

Rapido has established a presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, functioning as a livelihood platform for over 3 million captains. The company utilises a SaaS-driven framework to manage its independent workforce and transport categories.

Pawandip Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Rapido, said, “Our new brand identity is a milestone that mirrors the scale and diversity of the millions of journeys we facilitate every day. Rapido has always stood for simplifying travel and making it affordable for all. By evolving our visual language, we are reinforcing our promise to be the 'Wheels of Bharat' – moving beyond our origins to provide a truly integrated, homegrown solution that connects every Indian from the first mile to the last, and every getaway in between.”

The new identity will be implemented across the Rapido app, captain ecosystem and digital platforms over the coming weeks.

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Japanese automotive major Honda Motor Co., has announced organisational and operational changes effective 1 April 2026. The restructuring aims to enhance the company's ability to respond to market trends and deliver technologies within its automobile, motorcycle and power products divisions.

The research and development functions currently held within Automobile Development Operations and the SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle) Business Development Unit will be transferred to Honda R&D Co.

Since 2020, Honda has operated production model development and future technology research as separate entities. The new structure integrates the process from technology selection to market launch into a single flow. This change is intended to increase speed and flexibility in responding to the business environment.

Honda will disband the SDV Business Development Unit and reorganise its Automobile Business Strategy and Sales Units into two new entities: the Business Strategy Unit and the Regional Business Unit.

These changes are designed to:

• Improve automobile business profitability.
• Enhance product planning and sales based on customer needs.
• Strengthen product competitiveness over the mid-to-long term.

The company will integrate sales, business strategy and product development functions for its electric and internal combustion engine (ICE) businesses. Previously, these were managed separately. As the electrification strategy enters the execution stage, this integration aims to optimise resource allocation and support carbon neutrality goals.

Through these changes, Honda intends to accelerate corporate transformation through electrification and intelligent technologies to maintain a distinctive presence in the global market.

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The company is building a 1,000-acre greenfield complex in Nagpur to unlock SUV and tractor capacity as demand across segments begins to outpace supply at its existing plants. The facility will anchor a phased expansion plan even as the company revises tractor growth outlook sharply higher and races to ease production bottlenecks.

Mahindra and Mahindra’s upcoming greenfield complex at Nagpur will be spread across more than 1,000 acres and anchor the automaker’s next phase of capacity expansion with room for 500,000 SUVs and 100,000 tractors annually in a modular, phased build-out starting 2027-28.

The plant, which will also house a dedicated tractor facility within the same campus, is being designed to flex production between new-generation SUVs from Mahindra’s upcoming platforms and rising tractor volumes as the company prepares for sustained demand across segments.

“The Nagpur project gives us the flexibility to scale in a modular way across both SUVs and tractors without overcommitting capacity on day one,” said Chief Executive Officer, Auto and Farm Sector, Rajesh Jejurikar.

The expansion comes amid visible supply constraints at existing facilities in Chakan and Nashik, where strong demand for refreshed models such as the 3XO, Bolero range, Scorpio N and the newly introduced electric SUVs has pushed plants close to their limits.

Mahindra expects de-bottlenecking efforts to unlock an additional 3,000-5,000 units a month in internal combustion models by August-September, alongside 3,000-4,000 units of added EV capacity through the year.

The company said dealer inventory currently stands at 15–20 days, well below its preferred 25–30 day range, reflecting tight supply rather than demand weakness.

Demand momentum has also prompted Mahindra to sharply revise its tractor industry outlook. What was earlier guided as “low double-digit” growth for the year is now expected to land in the 22–24 percent range.

“We had underestimated the strength of the tractor industry. It is likely to be almost twice of what we had originally guided,” Jejurikar said.

On the passenger vehicle side, Mahindra stopped short of offering formal guidance for the next quarter or fiscal year but indicated that industry demand remains robust, with supply rather than orders becoming the limiting factor.

“I think everyone is going to be constrained by capacity because demand right now is stronger than the way supply is able to ramp up,” Jejurikar added.

The automaker is also seeing strong traction for its latest SUV launches. The XUV 7XO is witnessing higher bookings for top-end variants, continuing a trend seen in the XUV700, while the newly introduced electric SUV 9S is drawing customers seeking a more conventional seven-seat SUV format. Diesel continues to account for 70–75 percent of demand for the 7XO.

Jejurikar said there will be no new EV launches in calendar 2026 beyond the already introduced models, with capital expenditure tracking previously announced plans of INR 270 billion over three years, including INR 120 billion earmarked for new electric vehicle platforms.

On the financial side, Mahindra’s standalone results reflected a INR 3.75 billion loss from investments in subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, up fourfold year-on-year. This was primarily due to impairments in Mahindra’s Japanese arm, which is undergoing restructuring, and Arkun Foundry in Turkey, hit by hyper-inflationary conditions.

“The impairment is largely related to the restructuring of our Japan operations and the impact of hyper-inflation in Turkey on Arkun Foundry,” said Group Chief Financial Officer Amarjyoti Barua.

Jejurikar also pointed to external factors driving cost pressures, particularly rising precious metal prices and currency movements, prompting a 1 percent price increase in the auto portfolio.

“Precious metals and the impact of the dollar are the two key areas where we are seeing tangible increases,” Barua said.

Mahindra’s leadership also sees an opportunity emerging from recent trade agreements. While dismissing concerns that European imports could undercut domestic manufacturing, the company believes the new framework opens a pathway for higher exports of India-made vehicles to Europe at zero duty over time.

“There is an opportunity for us to sell meaningfully more into Europe over time at zero duty, and that is something we will take advantage of,” said Jejurikar.

Group Chief Executive Officer Dr Anish Shah added that broader policy changes, such as GST rate cuts, could have a sustained demand impact beyond immediate price benefits.

“A lower upfront cost for customers will continue to stimulate upgrades and first-time purchases over the longer term,” Dr Shah said.

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The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has released the retail sales data for January 2026, which saw the overall industry report a healthy 17.61 percent growth over January 2025.

Last month, a total of 2.72 million vehicles were sold, as compared to 2.31 million vehicles a year ago, and 2.02 million in December 2025. Barring construction equipment (-21.09 percent YoY), all segments posted a healthy growth.

Two-wheeler sales in the country grew by 20.82 percent YoY to 1.85 million units, which saw rural markets contributed 56 percent of this volume, while urban demand grew by 22.19 percent, indicating a recovery beyond festive periods. The passenger vehicle sales at 513,475 units, up 7.22 percent YoY was primarily driven by rural demand at 14.43 percent, as compared to 2.75 percent growth witnessed in the urban segment.

Commercial Vehicles segment grew 15.07 percent to 107,486 units, which saw Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) grow by 14.94 percent YoY and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) by 14.61 percent YoY, driven by replacement demand and infrastructure projects.

C S Vigneshwar, President, FADA, said, “January’26 has delivered a strong, broad-based start to the calendar year, with overall vehicle retail at 27,22,558 units, registering 17.61 percent YoY. The growth was powered by continued post-GST momentum, healthy rural cashflows on the back of harvest and weddings and sustained demand visibility across mobility and freight.”

Growth to remain positive

The outlook for February 2026 remains positive, with 72.56 percent of dealers expecting continued growth. Market sentiment is supported by the recent Budget’s focus on infrastructure and agriculture, alongside stable interest rates.

For the February-April period, 79.70 percent of dealers anticipate growth. Two-wheeler demand is expected to be sustained by wedding season purchases and EV adoption, while commercial vehicle sales are predicted to benefit from financial year-end buying and infrastructure activity. Potential constraints include model-specific supply shortages and possible disruptions related to upcoming elections in select states.

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