Mahindra Opens Technical Center in North America

MUMBAI, India, September 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

New facility in Troy, Michigan to create local employment opportunities

For picture, please visit http://www.mahindra.com/News/Press-Releases/1348031089

Left to Right: Rajan Wadhera, Chief Executive Technology & Product Development Automotive and Farm Sectors, Mahindra Group; Janice Daniels, Mayor, City of Troy; Michael Finney, President & CEO of MEDC, and Prashant Kamat, CEO Mahindra Engineering, at the inauguration of the new centre

Mahindra inaugurated its new Technical Center in Troy, Michigan today. This facility is the company's first technical center in the USA and will leverage Michigan's large automotive talent pool to provide design and consulting services for Mahindra's automotive customers in the region. This new facility will initially employ 25 engineers and has been designed to accommodate double that number in the future.

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Present on this occasion were Mr. Rajan Wadhera, Chief Executive-Technology, Product Development and Sourcing, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra Group, India, who inaugurated the facility along with Mr. Michael Finney, President & CEO, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Ms. Janice Daniels, Mayor, City of Troy and Mr. Prashant Kamat, CEO, Mahindra Engineering, India.

"This new Technology Center will serve as a base for Mahindra to address the engineering demand for our automotive and farm engineering requirements together with our Global Development Center in India. We will now be able to offer 24x7 engineering services to our global customers. The Troy Center is the latest addition to our 'neural network' of innovation which also comprises of our other research facilities in India, US, China and Korea," said Rajan Wadhera,Chief Executive -Technology, Product Development and Sourcing, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra Group.

"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 Center in the 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 Center 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," said Prashant Kamat, CEO Mahindra Engineering.

"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 center and new jobs in Troy," said MEDCPresident and CEO Michael A. Finney. "This investment shows our highly competitive business climate and tremendous workforce capabilities mean real opportunities for leading-edge companies."

"Our number one goal is to help new and existing businesses locate, grow and expand within the City of Troy," TroyCity Manager, Mike Culpepper, said. "We are delighted that Mahindra has chosen Troy as the location for its first Technical Center outside India. This is testimony to the fact that Troy is Michigan's top location for Automotive Research and Development facilities due to the presence of local talent, our business-friendly policies, and proximity to important markets in the northeastern United States."

The Mahindra Group's Presence in North America

The Mahindra Group has had a long and enduring presence in North America with businesses ranging from IT to tractors and aerospace.

Houston, Texas-based Mahindra USA (MUSA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., began selling tractors in the USA in 1994. MUSA has since grown rapidly due to high customer satisfaction levels and strong customer referrals. The company has three distribution points in the USA to help meet the needs of its customers and the growing demand for its products.

Mahindra's professional-grade tractors range from 22HP - 83HP and include the revolutionary new Max series tractors. All Mahindra Tractors are built with heavy-duty components that allow them to outperform other tractors in their class and are designed to provide consumers with the ability to push more, pull more and lift more, so they can do more in less time.

Mahindra USA is no stranger to community involvement. It was the first Indian company to sponsor a car in the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series, and MUSA-sponsored NASCAR driver DJ Kennington recently won his fifth consecutive race in the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season, with a victory in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Through the years, Mahindra has sponsored a college scholarship for recipients of the national FFA's Women in Agriculture program. The Women in Ag Scholarship Program recognizes the important role that women play in the future of the agricultural industry.

Beginning this year, Mahindra USA has pledged to donate a portion of tractor sales for every Mahindra Tractor sold to Operation Finally Home, a worthy non-profit organization that provides custom-made, mortgage-free homes to wounded and disabled veterans and the widows of the fallen. Operation Finally Home has provided 32 homes to wounded returning veterans as well as widows of fallen heroes in Texas, Kansas, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Illinois.

Mahindra USA has also raised money for St. Jude's Children Hospital, actively participates in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure events, contributed money and resources for disaster recovery programs related to Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ike and the devastating tornado outbreaks in the Gulf Coast and Mid-West such as Hurricane Isaac. MUSA actively supports its dealers' sponsorships of local scholarship and community improvement projects through its co-op program and tractor donations. This belief in giving back to the community is in sync with Mahindra's philosophy of Rise which is built on the three pillars of Accepting No Limits, Alternative Thinking and Driving Positive Change in the lives of its stakeholders and communities across the world, to enable them to Rise.

The Mahindra Group's Information Technology Sector operates in the Americas with three companies - Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra and Bristlecone. This market, apart from being the largest revenue contributor to the IT sector, services a veritable list of world-leading brands and businesses across several business domains such as Enterprise Business Solutions, Testing, Infrastructure Management Services, Network Security, Value Added Services and Application Development Maintenance and Support (ADMS) Solutions.

While Mahindra Satyam generated 51% of its revenues from the Americas region, Tech Mahindra generated close to 33% during FY-12. The companies have 24 offices in the region. Bristlecone is widely recognized as a leading provider of supply chain and procurement services and solutions to a wide spectrum of discrete and process industries. Headquartered in California's Silicon Valley, Bristlecone has five offices within the United States, besides those in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, India, Malaysia and Singapore.

GippsAERO, the aircraft-manufacturing division of Mahindra Aerospace, identified North America as a region of focus in early 2011 and has been committed to strengthening its permanent presence beyond ever since. The company recently announced a partnership agreement with Soloy Aviation Solutions at Oshkosh which will see Soloy provide assembly and technical support for GippsAERO for all North American orders. Mahindra Aerospace has also recently announced the appointment of Flightline Group, Inc. as its authorized dealer for the south-eastern United States and Muncie Aviation as its authorized dealer for the mid-western United States.

The Mahindra Group - A Heritage of Six Decades

The Mahindra Group has a rich heritage spanning over six decades. It was established in 1945 by brothers, J.C. Mahindra and K.C. Mahindra, who began a steel company along with their partner, Ghulam Mohammed. After India won its independence in 1947, the two Mahindra brothers decided to manufacture the Willys jeep in Mumbai. This was born of their belief that new modes of transportation could be the key to India's prosperity.

Thus, in 1947, Mahindra introduced India to the utility vehicle. More than 65 years later, Mahindra is India's premier utility vehicle (UV) manufacturer but in addition to making groundbreaking UVs like the Scorpio and Bolero, Mahindra's automotive portfolio has also grown substantially to include cars, pickups and commercial vehicles that are rugged, reliable, environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient. Its global presence means you can find Mahindra vehicles on the roads - both paved and unpaved - of Australia, Europe, Latin America, Malaysia and South Africa. However, far from resting on its laurels, the company seeks out new terrain every day.

Over the decades, the Group forayed into new areas, including farm equipment, agribusiness, After-Market, automotive components, aerospace, consulting services, information technology, defence, energy, financial services, logistics, real estate, retail and two wheelers. Aside from utility vehicles, it also occupies a leadership position in tractors and employs over 144,000 people in over 100 countries spread across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia and Australia.

The Group's focus is on building the Mahindra brand in the countries where it operates. This means achieving world-class standards in everything it does, setting new benchmarks of excellence and conquering tough global markets.

In 2011, the Group unveiled a new brand position: Rise. The latter represents a new chapter in its history and seeks to communicate the new face of this diversified federation of companies with its increasingly global ambitions. Rise is built on the three brand pillars of Alternative Thinking, Accepting No Limits and Driving Positive Change.

The Mahindra Group also uses motorsports as a platform to build its global brand. It has recently entered the exciting world of MotoGP and CIV motorcycle racing championships where it is the most successful factory team in its class. In 2012, Mahindra Racing SRL was formally incorporated in Rome and functions out of Bologna in Italy. Mahindra has recently announced that it will team up with Swiss company Suter Racing Technology AG for the 2013 season of Moto3TM.

Mahindra has always been known for its ingenuity and never-say-die spirit. Whether it is transforming the lives of millions of farmers through agri-prosperity initiatives, creating green and innovative urban living spaces or investing in new automotive technologies and factories that leave the lowest carbon footprints, Mahindra is many companies with just one purpose: enabling people to Rise.

Giving Back to the Community

At the Mahindra Group, Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR) is an integral part of business and the key motivation behind its desire to drive positive change. The Group's key focus areas are in the fields of Education, Public Health and the Environment, with a difference. It's about socially conscious stewardship - being responsible drivers of change in the community. Mahindra's Core Purpose is to help its stakeholders 'Rise,' which essentially means that it strives to create and share economic value in a way that simultaneously creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges.

The Group has embarked on this journey to further connect its companies' successes with social progress. This isn't about 'Corporate Social Responsibility,' which is usually a set of activities carried out at the margin of a company's business. It's about giving rise to the next major transformation of business thinking by bringing those activities to the centre of the radar screen and using them to develop innovative - and lucrative - business models.

About Mahindra Engineering

Mahindra Engineering is a leading global engineering service provider to the automotive, aerospace, defense and manufacturing industries. It is an integral part of Mahindra Systech, a leading business sector of the US $15.4 billion Mahindra Group. MES offers end-to-end Design-to-Delivery solutions to help its customers improve operational efficiency, shorten time-to-market and foster product innovation.

Founded in 2003, Mahindra Engineering today has over 1,350 engineers working on multi-disciplinary projects in engineering and product development. Headquartered in Pune, India, the company has offices in the US, UK, Germany & China. This global presence in strategic locations aids the company in collaborating with OEMs and suppliers across industries to provide value-added engineering services from concept to manufacturing.

MES, in synergy with Mahindra Systech, provides full service art-to-part solutions to global customers by integrating design, manufacturing and sourcing capabilities. Together, the companies provide services in concept engineering, design, virtual validation, prototyping, testing, manufacturing, contract sourcing and supply of components.

About The Mahindra Group

The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to Rise. Mahindra operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology and vacation ownership. Mahindra has a presence in the automotive industry, agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defence, energy, financial services, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel and two wheelers.

A US $15.4 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, Mahindra employs more than 144,000 people in over 100 countries. In 2011, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000 list, a listing of the biggest and most powerful listed companies in the world. Dun & Bradstreet also ranked Mahindra at No. 1 in the automobile sector in its list of India's Top 500 Companies. In 2010, Mahindra featured in the Credit Suisse Great Brands of Tomorrow. In 2011, Mahindra acquired a majority stake in Korea's SsangYong Motor Company.

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For further enquiries:

Roma Balwani,
Senior Vice President - Group Communications,
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.,
Phone: +91-22-2490-1441,
e-mail: balwani.roma@mahindra.com