Indian Truck Maker Eyeing Ohio for Assembly Plant
Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra is talking to officials in Ohio about the possibility of building a light truck plant there.
The company has said it wants to start selling a small, fuel-efficient diesel-hybrid pickup truck in the U.S. and the Columbus Dispatch newspaper reported today that Ohio state development department officials have confirmed that they've been talking to Mahindra.
The state officials would not confirm that the discussions involved construction of a truck factory.
But Global Vehicles USA, an Alpharetta, Georgia, company that has a U.S. distribution deal with Mahindra, told the newspaper that the company does want to assemble trucks in Ohio from component kits shipped from India.
Mahindra is working with an unnamed company that has a history of assembling vehicles in the U.S., but is not a major automaker, a Global spokesman said.
The Ohio newspaper points out that International Truck and Engine Corp. builds commercial trucks in Springfield, Ohio.
While vehicles with both diesel engines and hybrid drive trains will cost quite a bit more than gasoline vehicles, the two together in a pickup make sense because of how they are complimentary. Diesel engines are better at hauling and at maintaining highway speeds, while electric motors (at least as built for the first generation of hybrids) are most efficient accelerating and in city traffic. Since pickups tend to be weighed down when hauling, the amount of energy that could be recovered while braking could be more than with a car. If this Indian company can keep the cost in the ballpark of gasoline pickups (sub $25K), they may have a winner.
John Gartner, Editor, http://www.matternetwork.com