“While we will maintain a distinct identity between Mahindra and Ssangyong vehicles, there is a potential for sharing platforms,” Pawan Goenka, president incharge of Mahindra’s automobile and tractor business, told reporters at a news conference.

Mahindra was selected as the preferred bidder by Ssangyong’s creditors on Aug. 13 to acquire a majority stake in the Korean firm, which has been under court-led bankruptcy protection since early last year after experiencing a severe cash shortage due to a slump in sales of its mainstay SUVs.

Goenka said synergies between the two companies might help bring down vehicle development costs. He refused to elaborate on the likely deal size or on the stake it plans to buy in the Korean auto maker.

But Goenka said Mahindra may consider introducing in India Ssangyong’s new sport-utility vehicle, Korando C, which goes on sale in South Korea by December.

Ssangyong is likely to sell between 70,000 and 75,000 of its vehicles in its home market this year, more than double of the 35,000 units it sold in 2009, Goenka said.

Read the full article here

Above pictures courtesy: Businessweek & 4theloveofjeeps

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Took leave from work today.  Woke up late today to kisses and wishes from wifey

Baked a cake yesterday night.  And it turned out to be a disaster.  Its the first time ever that i took to baking and never thought i would screw it up so bad.  Plan to go to the church after lunch and then a movie? Probably.

Its already the best ever birthday celebration in my 9 years here in Singapore.

Previous birthday posts here.  2008, 2007

Above picture source: Wikipedia

Its my Birthday today.  I would like to thank all of you in advance for sending some good gifts, cakes, pizza, burgers in addition to all the best wishes which iam sure you will anyway send across

I have the good fortune of sharing my birthday with some very talented and famous people.  Will i ever be able to achieve even 1% of the fame and greatness they achieved?  Let’s leave that for time to decide.

Indira Gandhi – 1917 – Former Prime Minister of India

Larry King – 1933 – of the famous Larry King Live program on CNN

Sushmita Sen – 1975 (same year and date as me) – Miss Universe, 1994

Ted Turner - 1938 – Businessman, Philanthropist, owns CNN, TNT, MGM, Time Warner, Turner Entertainment

Jodie Foster – 1962 – Oscar winning actress of Taxi Driver, Silence of the Lambs

Peter F Drucker – 1909 – Father of Modern management

Calvin Klein – 1942 – Founder of the world famous luxury brand Calvin Kelin (CK)

Meg Ryan – 1961 – Hollywood actress – When Harry met Sally, French Kiss, You’ve Got Mail

Jack Welch – 1935 – Legendary Chairman & CEO of General Electric (GE) also known as Neutron Jack

Ferdinand de Lesseps – French diplomat and builder of the Suez Canal.

Zeenat Aman – 1951 – Famous hindi movie beauty

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Ahem, its my birthday today (19 November). Ya, another year older. Another year wiser (is it?). Another year closer to death. Whatever. I took off from work today and tomorrow. For what? I really don’t know. I have some leaves to clear, so chose this day to clear them off. Also my toe has not yet healed and i still walk with a slight limp. So, the 2 day off has come at an appropriate time for me to rest and relax at home.

Meanwhile, a random search threw up some interesting information about the people i share my birthday with. Never realized that i shared my birthday with such impressive set of people. Will i ever be able to achieve even one percent of what these people have achieved? Well, lets leave that to time.

A list of people who have the honour of sharing their birthdays with me include

Jodie Foster – Actor
Indira Gandhi – Former Prime Minister of India
Sushmita Sen – Miss Universe 1994
Calvin Klein – Fashion Designer
Ted Turner – Owns CNN, Time Warner
Larry King – Talk show host on CNN
Jack Welch – Former CEO of General Electric
Meg Ryan – Actor
Peter F Drucker – Management Guru

Meanwhile, other than the R&R, i have booked for myself a nice massage, dinner and finally a late night movie. All by myself. Ya, sometimes we do need to reward ourselves. Afterall, i have achieved all my targets for the year, much in advance

Above picture courtesy: YahooAmericanGreetings

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