Hinduja Group on-boards JCB India MD to its global leadership team, to focus on automotive business

MUMBAI: Hinduja Group, that has businesses ranging from the automotive to the banking industry, today announced the recruitment of Vipin Sondhi to its global leadership team. Sondhi is the managing director and chief executive of the Indian arm of construction equipment manufacturer JCB.

Sondhi will join the Hindujas by December 2019. While a clear role for him hasn’t been defined by the group, amongst other responsibilities, “he will focus on consolidation, growth and future strategy of Hinduja Group’s global automotive portfolio,” a statement read.

This comes after the high-profile exit of Vinod Dasari, the previous managing director and chief executive of commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland, the group’s flagship company. Dasari left Ashok Leyland at the end of March this year to lead motorcycle maker Royal Enfield as its chief executive officer.


After his exit, Ashok Leyland Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja donned the leadership role at the company and a global search for Dasari’s successor was initiated. While it has not been made clear whether Sondhi will eventually assume the responsibility to lead Ashok Leyland, his experience from being at the helm of JCB India will surely come handy.

“The Group believes his addition to the leadership team will add significant strategic depth to its global automotive portfolio,” the Hindujas said in a statement.

The Hinduja Group has businesses in areas of automotive, banking and finance, oil and speciality chemicals, IT/ITeS, media and entertainment, power, infrastructure, real estate, international trading, and healthcare.