By Nandan Mandayam and Chandini Monnappa
(Reuters) -Mahindra & Mahindra said it is “comfortably covered” on rare-earth magnets, joining rival Hyundai India in downplaying near-term risks from China’s export curbs, as it banks on substitutes like light rare-earths and ferrites to shield production.
Mahindra Auto and Farm Sector CEO Rajesh Jejurikar said in a post-earnings call that the company had “taken variety of actions to de-risk supply,” and it is stocked through March 2026.
China, the source of 90% of global rare earth magnets, curbed exports in April in response to U.S. tariffs, pushing automakers to seek alternatives. The magnets are key to EV motors and components in conventional cars like power windows and speakers.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hyundai India also said it had sufficient inventory after it posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit.
Scorpio SUV maker Mahindra’s June quarter profit rose 32% to 34.50 billion rupees ($394.58 million), topping analysts’ estimate of 30.98 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.
Robust rural demand, a steady tractor market, a strong SUV offering and deep distribution in semi-urban as well as rural areas have helped Mahindra sustain momentum even as overall industry growth slows.
India’s domestic car sales have lost steam, growing 8% in fiscal year 2024 and 2% in fiscal 2025 after double-digit gains in the previous two years. Automakers expect sales growth to slow further to 1%–2% in the current fiscal year, reflecting a broader slowdown.
However, Mahindra has been an outlier. India’s second-largest carmaker said its SUV sales surged 22% in the quarter, driven by strong demand for new models and electric vehicles, while tractor and farm equipment sales rose 10%.
Jejurikar reaffirmed Mahindra’s forecast of up to 19% SUV sales growth in FY26, bucking the industry slowdown.
Mahindra shares closed flat before it reported results, but are up 38% in 2025.
($1 = 87.4350 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shailesh Kuber)
