In March, one user Anil Panicker tweeted to Mahindra a photo of a three-wheeler, apparently a Piaggio Ape, whose rear had been modified into a rear of the Mahindra Scorpio.
An impressed Mahindra decided to buy out the auto-rickshaw for the company museum and offered the owner a four-wheeler in exchange of a three wheeler.
@anandmahindra .image shows how the scorpio design turned generic and popular among Indian roads. This mans way of "dream big" pic.twitter.com/jMoJiB5gGs
— Anil Panicker (@AnilPanicker3) March 19, 2017
Within three days, the owner Sunil was located in Tiruvalla town of Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district.
On Wednesday, Mahindra tweeted a photo of Sunil with his rickshaw as well as a brand new Supro, the company’s small commercial four-wheeler.
Iconic. A way to 'Rise.' Thanks for sharing this.Can you help locate him? I'd like to buy it for our museum & give him 4 wheels in return.. https://t.co/uwQ5wYcDpW
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 19, 2017
Though the act was nothing short of quirky gimmick, it made a commoner happy and Twitter went gaga over Mahindra’s “way to ‘Rise’”.
Panicker, who tweeted the first photo of the Kerala man’s auto, responded: “Hi sir. Thanks. I spoke to Sunil as well. It was an amazing feeling. (sic.)”
Remember this request?Our team managed to locate him! And we acquired the 3 wheeler from him..Gave him a 4 wheeler in return (1/2) https://t.co/mJ7tDdRhTQ
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 3, 2017
One user said, “Sir, you r not Anand Mahindra at that moment, he is! Because Anand means “happy” n he got Mahindra vehicle. So he is Anand Mahindra :-) (sic.)”.
Another one, @vajras even compared the Mahindra boss to Mahendra Baahubali, the lead character of south Indian blockbuster “Baahubali” fame, saying: “Great gesture sir.U have acted as #MahendraBaahubali in the current #BahubaliTheConclusion storm in reality to ur #Mahindra (sic.)”.
Here's Sunil, the proud owner of the 3 wheeler 'Scorpio', now a happy owner of a 4 wheeler. All thanks to you twitterati! (2/2) pic.twitter.com/5nb12j2dnj
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 3, 2017