Chennai: When the Kirloskar group was in talks with Toyota Industries Corporation for an automobile venture, a key person on the negotiating team was K K Swamy, then CEO of Mysore Kirloskar. Swamy was also asked to head the team, doing the feasibility study of the project.

Logically, after the project was found viable and the two companies joined hands, Swamy became the deputy managing director of the new joint venture, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM). This was another challenging role for the man who had rescued the Rs 16-crore Mysore Kirloskar from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction's arms.

The power of empowering others
Mysore Kirloskar, a Rs 16-crore loss-making company, had been focussing on making high technology machines without proper technical expertise. Instead of managing customer complaints and warranty claims, Swamy decided to go in for simple lathes where the company had the expertise. This kept the workshop buzzing, while the services section phone stopped ringing.

With an accountant's precision he revamped the systems and procedures in the company, but at the same time he decided to empower officials down the line, opening up internal communication channels. "I believe in the power of empowering others," says Swami.

The change in business focus and the internal revamp coupled with a Rs 160-crore order to churn out simple lathes turned Mysore Kirloskar's fortunes around. The first year of Swamy's stewardship saw the company booking a Rs 1-crore profit. This went up to Rs 5 crore and Rs 9 crore in the second and the third year, respectively.

"With systems and procedures in place by 1996, the company ran by itself and my workload got reduced to just one hour a day," recalls Swamy. At Mysore Kirloskar, Swamy learnt to take the macro perspective of a company, and not look at it from the finance angle alone. This experience stood him in good stead in TKM.

The macro view
Although Swamy came from a hardcore finance background, he easily adjusted to his new role at Toyota, which is known for its production systems.

"After all there are several finance professionals heading automobile companies. Take Toyota itself for example - the chairman is an accounting professional. Similarly General Motors India's [president and MD] Aditya Vij is also a chartered accountant," says Swamy. "What is needed at the top management level is not engineering detail but a broad business outlook to set the direction and strategies."

The Qualis story
When TKM decided to launch the 15-year-old breadbox, the Kijang model, under the Qualis brand, the Indian auto industry was stumped. Why the Kijang of all the models in Toyota's portfolio? But Toyota was just following its usual procedure of testing the waters before plunging in.

"Toyota's philosophy is very basic - minimise the initial risk and then improve step by step," explains Swamy. Moreover, when TKM entered the market, all the global auto majors had a presence in all the segments.

So it was logical for Toyota to decide that the Indian arm should first build its technical capability while looking for vulnerable points in the multi-utility vehicle (MUV) segment. "We needed time to learn and understand the market, the vendors and dealers," says Swamy. To cut the initial investments, the company decided to import engines from Thailand and gearboxes from the Philippines.

Proving the sceptics wrong, the Qualis found acceptance in several segments - individuals (self-employed, rich farmers), tourist car operators and institutions (government departments, corporates).

Says Toyota Motor Corporation group manager (India) Shinobu Teramoto: "Sales were in line with our initial targets, except for some minor variance in the original market share that was expected." During the first year of operations, TKM sold 21,000 units, 1,000 above the target.

The company till date has sold 65,000 units of the Qualis and recently came out with an upgraded version at an additional capital expenditure of Rs 44 crore. "The initial target was to capture 33 per cent of the MUV market. We exceeded that to touch 42 per cent," says Swamy. Simultaneously, TKM broke even at the end of the third year, which was again as planned. "In the sixth year we will recover all our accumulated losses," says Swamy.

Changing lanes
But the man now steering TKM started his career in a completely different lane. After clearing the chartered accountancy final exams with flying colours in 1978, Swamy joined the Karnataka State Industries Department as an advisor.

For the seventh and last child of C V Krishnaswamy, an ICS officer, going into the government service seemed the logical thing to do. Two of his elder brothers were also in the central government service at that time. "During the seventies, the Indian private sector was not vibrant and a government job was prized," says the 47-year-old Mysorean.

But Swamy soon changed lanes to join Hindustan Machine Tools, a public sector giant, as an accounts officer, a highly respected position. Three years later he moved again - this time to Hyderabad Allwyn in Hyderabad, where he got his first feel of an automobile project, the Allwyn Nissan light commercial vehicle. He was then the deputy finance manager, in-charge of project financing.

The offer of a finance manager's position saw Swamy return to his native place in 1986. Seven years later he became vice-president (finance) and looked at new business developments and projects. The next turning point in his life came when he was offered the post of CEO at Mysore Kirloskar, a path that eventually led to TKM.

An individualistic streak
Swamy always had an individualistic streak in him. Brought up by his mother, Swamy was expected to opt for a career in medicine since there was no physician in the family. "Two of my brothers and sisters are doctorates; brothers are in engineering and the sisters did economics and child psychology," he says. But he pitched for a BSc degree.

Swamy graduated with a first class and joined the chartered accountancy (CA) course. In the CA intermediate exams, he ranked 17^th in the country. Two years later he cleared the final exams.

It was at college that he met Indu, who became his wife. "It was really love at first sight," he says. "I am a Kshatriya while Indu is a Brahmin. Though we both expected opposition from our families, she was more worried about marrying outside her caste and its impact on her sister's future. Despite family opposition we got married at Arya Samaj in a simple ceremony. Luckily for us, six months later, our families accepted us."

Swamy and Indu have two daughters, Yasholakshmi and Vijayalakshmi, studying in the ninth and seventh standard, respectively. "Compared to the current day's fashionable names, theirs are very traditional," he smiles. "Though an extrovert, [Swamy] loves Indian traditions and follows them," says TKM general manager (marketing) Sandeep Singh.

"I admire Hindu traditions. I am of the firm view that Indian philosophy is one of the best in the world. My favourite pastime is reading philosophical books," says Swamy. His other hobbies include the piano, golf and tennis.

Apart from mastering the language of finance and cost cutting, Swamy is fluent in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English. He also has a working knowledge of Japanese.