India's Mahindra opens Detroit plant to build off-road vehicles

Indian conglomerate Mahindra Group is opening an automotive manufacturing facility near Detroit.

Mahindra says it will make an off-road vehicle at the 400,000-square-foot plant in Auburn Hills.

Mumbai-based Mahindra is India's largest SUV maker, but it doesn't yet sell cars or SUVs in the U.S., where it would have to find dealers and meet stricter safety standards. Mahindra currently sells tractors, scooters and off-road vehicles in the U.S.

More from FOX Business

Ford F-150 dominates, Honda Accord wins top prize in Kelley Blue Book's 2018 rankings

Tesla’s electric big-rig gets slammed by truck driver

Car shoppers paid record prices in October

It's also one of five companies in the running to build a new vehicle for the U.S. Postal Service. And it recently signed a deal to work with Ford Motor Co. on electric and connected vehicle technology.

Mahinda opened a technical center in suburban Detroit in 2012. It expects to have 250 employees in Michigan by the end of this year.