Mahindra expanding in Auburn Hills and Pontiac

Indian manufacturer to invest $22.3 million and create 105 jobs

Company to produce off-road recreational and work vehicle called Roxor

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."

— Automotive News reporter Jack Walsworth contributed to this report.