Mahindra To Develop Next-Gen Delivery Vehicle Prototype For US Postal Service

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced that Mahindra and Mahindra have been selected to develop a Next-Gen Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) prototype for testing and evaluation. Mahindra is one of six vehicle manufacturers that have been shortlisted for the project. From the start of the contract, all manufacturers will have around a year to deliver the prototypes. After the NGDV prototypes are tested by USPS, the production requirement and future replacement awards will be announced.

Commenting on the new program, Anand Mahindra, chairman, Mahindra Group, said: “We are excited to be part of the USPS NGDV prototype program. The USPS has recognised Mahindra’s engineering proposal and selected us for vehicle development and prototype delivery. This is a strategic development in Mahindra’s ambition to become a global mobility player.”

The Mahindra North American Technical Center (MNATC) based in Michigan will be leading the project. Being located in the Detroit area, the team has the benefit of making the most of its resources to come up with an innovative vehicle design for the U.S market. The proposal submitted by MNATC stressed upon the safety, ergonomics and fuel economy of the vehicle that has been developed from the ground-up.

“Our team has significant global experience engineering some of the best trucks ever produced.   We’ve spent thousands of hours ensuring this proposal will optimise driver and pedestrian safety and provide the USPS with a modern and reliable vehicle architecture that can easily adapt to a broad variety of future scenarios.” said Rick Haas, president and COO, MNATC in Troy, Michigan.