According to reports, Pravin Shah, Mahindra & Mahindra's executive vice president of international operations, told journalists in India today that the company is considering purchasing an assembly plant in the U.S. to build its Scorpio platform pickup trucks and SUVs that will be sold here starting next February. Shah said that such a move would make sense because Mahindra hopes to make the U.S. its largest export market.
We can think of another reason: The so-called "chicken tax" 25% federal import tariff levied on foreign-built pickups. It was Mahindra's original plan to assemble pickups from knockdown kits in Ohio to avoid the tax but that idea was scrapped in favor of Indian-built units to expedite the arrival of the trucks in the U.S.
Perhaps the folks at Mahindra should kick the tires at NUMMI?
[Source: The Wall Street Journal, Reuters]