Posted on 11/21/2017 2:11:11 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
India's Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. is expanding in Auburn Hills and Pontiac with plans to launch an off-road vehicle in the U.S.
The plans, which include bringing the company's North American automotive headquarters and off-road vehicle manufacturing to Auburn Hills, are expected to generate a total capital investment of $22.3 million and create 105 jobs. It was awarded an $850,000 performance-based grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced Monday.
"The fact that Mahindra has established new operations centers here for the third time in four years is a testament to Michigan's global leadership in automotive R&D and advanced manufacturing," Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said Monday morning at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility in Auburn Hills.
Mahindra currently operates its North American Technical Center in Troy, a logistics center in Pontiac and manufactures its Gen-Ze scooter in Ann Arbor. It says it has tripled its workforce to 250 over the last 18 months.
The Auburn Hills facility will be upgraded to serve as Mahindra's North American automotive headquarters, engineering center and manufacturing location of three models of off-road utility vehicles as well as prototype vehicles. At the Pontiac location, the company will lease and renovate a former General Motors facility into a warehousing and parts distribution center.
The factory will produce an off-road-only recreational and work vehicle dubbed the Roxor. Roxor production and sales are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018.
"We hope that we will gradually creep into the consciousness of the American consumer as the maker of very rugged, sturdy SUV and crossover vehicles," Anand Mahindra, executive chairman of Mahindra Group, said Monday at a roundtable event in Auburn Hills. "So I think it's more about a brand journey than about a journey of investment."
Rick Haas, Mahindra Automotive North America president, pointed to current Mahindra customers — hunters, farmers, ranchers, miners or recreational individuals — as potential customers for the Roxor and passenger vehicles.
"All those people have cars in their garage, too," Haas said. "Again, the idea is to build the brand in a very positive way, with a vehicle that we think demonstrates our DNA, let people kinda get a sniff of us and get used to what we're all about and then you start taking next steps that build on that as we go forward."
I’ll stick with Massey Ferguson.
Read the article. They’re not building tractors.
These guys build good stuff for a discount off of the American “names” that are mostly built in China - sadly. Their tractors have awesome warranties. I will be looking at their off-road stuff when I retire my current UTE.
Phew, at first glance I thought Oakland, CA! Give no6hing to that wretched state.
Mahindra bought the tooling for the International harvester B250/B414 when IH discontinued the line. It continued to manufacture basically the same tractor (with sheetmetal changes and, I believe, the diesel version only) for several decades. I haven’t looked at their current offerings, but I wouldn’t be suprised if some of the new models still trace their lines back to IH.
In fact, if you order replacement B414 parts from IH, they come in Mahindra-branded boxes.
We have a B414 (circa 1962) and it’s been a great tractor. Just a bit bigger than a Ford N with a few extra features. Good basis for a small-plot compact tractor.
My next compact tractor will probably be 4wd, but Mahindra’s near the top of my list.
Mahindra advertises on Rush Limbaugh. Go figure.
Would like some coconut chutney with that?
If it’s not green the it’s not a tractor.
I own a Mahindra 1526 HST tractor with the front end loader and I love it. Turf tires, hydrostatic transmission and 26 hp 3 cylinder Mitsubishi diesel engine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.