The country’s leading utility vehicle manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra is stepping high towards gearing up its research and development activities to introduce in the automotive industry new engine platforms, next generation hybrid vehicles and new dual clutch transmission with the recently opened R & D centre at Chennai.
Mahindra & Mahindra has acquired a wide spread area of 126 acres and has incurred an investment of Rs. 650 crore to build this magnificent R & D Centre, Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) that comprises of over 34 laboratories.
The project of new engine family has already commenced with the new engine development in works that will be paving a path for growth of Mahindra & Mahindra along with its acquired South Korean based company, SsangYong Motor Company. While the new dual clutch transmission (DCT) is in a developing stage, the development of hybrid vehicles is motivated owing to the impressive response received for the automaker’s micro hybrid/ start stop technology.
Dr Pawan Goenka, President, M&M and Chairman of SsangYong Motor Company commented, “The company has underestimated the development task and full-fledged hybrids will be ready only three years from now”.
The automaker is heading towards bringing in the most advanced technologies in vehicles with the development of electric vehicle powerplant for which testing sessions on bio-diesel technology has been already commenced.
However, the company has also accepted that this newly inaugurated R & D facility suffers from infrastructure loopholes such as absence of chassis dynamometer facility, which will be soon actualized and lack of a crash test facility, which M & M is planning to utilize the facility available with SsangYong Motor Company so as achieve cost economy.
