Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) Limited, the leading Indian Utility Vehicle (UV) maker, opened the gates of a world class 'Mahindra Technical Centre' on September 19, 2012 in Troy, Michigan state of USA. The state-of-art facility will use the services of 25 highly skilled engineers and the company also revealed plans to double the number in the near future.
The inauguration ceremony was presided by Rajan Wadhera, Chief Executive-Technology, Product Development and Sourcing, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra Group, India and Michael Finney, President and CEO, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Janice Daniels, Mayor, City of Troy and Prashant Kamat, CEO, Mahindra Engineering, India.
Expressing his delight at the inauguration ceremony, Rajan Wadhera, said, “This new Technology Centre will serve as a base for Mahindra to address the engineering demand for our automotive & farm engineering requirements together with our Global Development Centre in India. We will now be able to offer 24x7 engineering services to our global customers. The Troy Centre is the latest addition to our 'neural network' of innovation which also comprises of our other research facilities in India, US, China and Korea.”
Reportedly, the sophisticated Mahindra Training Centre will provide the company a strong foundation in the US towards the Research and Development (R&D) requirements of its automotive and farm engineering sectors. Further, the company will provide highly efficient 24x7 engineering services to its American clientele.
Commenting on the Mahindra Technical Centre, Michael Finney said, “Mahindra is a global provider for automotive engineering services, and we are thrilled with the company's decision to locate its first North American technical centre and new jobs in Troy. This investment shows our highly competitive business climate and tremendous workforce capabilities mean real opportunities for leading-edge companies.”
Expressing his views on the new development for the company's US operations, Prashant Kamat said, “The inauguration of our new Troy Technical Centre is a proud moment for us as we are now present in one of the world's leading automotive hubs. This is our first Technical Centre in USA and it will enable us to leverage local R&D talent to deliver innovative solutions to our customers in the region. We also plan to scale up the Centre in due course and will establish a dedicated recruiting department in the US office to meet this goal. We currently have a workforce of about 100 in North America with over 60% comprising US nationals hired locally. Hence, wherever we are located, our priority is to contribute to the local community and economy.”
M&M plans to take a step-by-step approach towards the development of its R&D and customer oriented technical centre, besides setting up a brand new recruitment unit, especially for the US market. The company has a noteworthy footprint in several sectors including Information Technology (IT), farm vehicles and aerospace in the North American region. M&M operates its farm equipment business comprising tractors as Mahindra USA and its IT services are taken care by Tech Mahindra and Satyam technologies. Further, the aerospace firms like Bristlecone and GrippAERO manage the production of aircrafts for Mahindra Aerospace.
M&M's investment in its world class Mahindra Technical Centre underlines the importance of USA market to the company. Troy has a well established roots in Automotive Research and Development, because of the ample availability of highly skilled task force, trade friendly policies and proximity to most of the influential markets present in North America.
