Pricol's revival: from near-death debt to debt-free 15–20% CAGR (interview)
Vikram Mohan took over debt-ridden Pricol in 2010, bet 4.5% of turnover on tech, survived a ₹420 crore Brazil write-off — now debt-free at 15–20% CAGR.
What was changed
When Vikram Mohan took charge as managing director of Coimbatore auto-parts supplier Pricol in 2010, he inherited deep losses, huge debts and severe industrial-relations problems, with practically zero knowledge of the product. 'We were in the news every three months and our market share was decimated,' he told ET Auto in a July 2026 interview. He worked twelve-hour days for two years — talking to union leaders, asking banks for time, meeting customers — and within about two and a half years most issues were fixed, with a shrunken turnover, debts paid and the company restructured.
The rebuild's engine was technology. Pricol invested 4.5% of turnover in R&D — a spend the board called 'ridiculously high.' Mohan's first acquisition — a Brazilian fluid-management business bought for its tech centre and test lab — collapsed with Brazil's crisis; trapped by 67% market share there, Pricol poured in money: ₹125 crore became ₹400 crore in two years. It sold the business in February 2020, writing off around ₹420 crore as banks pulled support mid-COVID. A Czech unit for a wiping-and-lighting venture was sold too — his admitted mistake: lingering in Brazil.
Post-COVID, the technology bets finally paid: products developed since 2014 took off, all debts were repaid within nine months, and Pricol has run at a steady 15–20% CAGR as a long-term debt-free company. In July 2026 it announced the demerger of its largest division — driver information and connected-vehicle systems — into Pricol Autotech, leaving Pricol with actuation, control and fluid management systems and precision products, each free to chase its own technology agenda.
Why it worked
Labor, bank and customer relationships were rebuilt first — without stability, no technology bet could be funded.
The 4.5%-of-turnover technology spend was held against board resistance, on the conviction that owning technology would let Pricol 'rule the roost.'
The Brazil loss was honored rather than hidden: ₹420 crore written off, the Czech unit sold, and the balance sheet cleaned within nine months of COVID.
The demerger separates smart-mobility electronics from the legacy fluid business so each can fund its own technology roadmap.
What can be applied
Turnarounds are sequencing: stabilize, then over-invest in technology before anyone agrees, and admit within two years — not five — when an overseas bet is draining the mother ship.
Aftermath
Pricol Autotech will pursue smart mobility, integrated electronics, telematics and battery-management systems independently, while Pricol continues with actuation, control and fluid management and precision products. Mohan said overseas acquisitions may be reconsidered in about two years — paying top dollar for healthy companies rather than bargains for sick ones — and he mentors five young entrepreneurs, one hour each a month.