Mahindra 4x4 pickup

[BiG BoB]

We had a company importing mahindra's back in the 90's in Aus. They were little jeep / sierra / samurai looking things

Never were very popular... The magazine reviews at the time did say that they were very capable offroad, however on road manners and comfort were lacking, as was safety.

I have a review of that model compared to a sierra (samurai) and a subaru 4wd wagon somewhere.

I'd steer well clear of these things!

For cheap (throw-a-way) dual cab 4wd's we use mitsubishi tritons.

Sean

 

[haven]

Pickuptrucks.com has a couple of photos of the new Mahindra pickup available. Here's the link:
http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/news/mahindra/mahindra-pickup-spied-looking-for-new-name.html

The specs reported are the same as before: 2.2L turbodiesel with close to 300 lb-ft of torque, 6-speed auto trans, 4x4 with limited slip, 2600 lb cargo capacity, 7.5 foot bed, USA delivery starting in Summer 2009.

Chip Haven

 

[Redline]

I kind of like the look of that funky little pickup. It looks small and light, I can envision it getting pretty good MPG.

 

[adrenaline503]

It looks like it might actually be made of metal!!

 

[haven]

Looks in this case are deceiving. This isn't a 1970's Datsun pickup. The Mahindra is larger than a 2008 Tacoma in all dimensions except width.

The Mahindra is quite a bit smaller than today's behemoth "full-size" pickups.

 

[Redline]

Interesting. Width is what caught my eye, looking a bit narrow like a Ford Ranger (not a bad thing).

My 4Runner and the new Tacoma are not narrow, but also quite comfortable too.

Looks in this case are deceiving. This isn't a 1970's Datsun pickup. The Mahindra is larger than a 2008 Tacoma in all dimensions except width.

The Mahindra is quite a bit smaller than today's behemoth "full-size" pickups.

 

[upcruiser]

Anyone heard any recent updates as to retail? I'm loving the concept of this truck on a few different levels. I'm curious to hear some real world impressions of the US bound model.

 

[haven]

I agree that the tall and narrow appearance of the truck is appealing. It's got that Land Cruiser 70 series appearance.

Here are two more photos I found online of the Mahindra pickup, this time from Australia. While the interior and engine will be different, the exterior of the North American model will look similar to these photos.

Dimensions of the Australian double cab are

overall length (inches): 200.7
overall width (inches): 69.7
overall height (inches): 76.5
ground clearance (inches): 8.3
wheelbase (inches): 119.7

curb to curb turning circle (feet): 41.3
approach angle (degrees): 39.0
departure angle (degrees): 21.0

Cargo area dimensions:
length (inches): 58.6
front width (inches): 59.8
width between arches (inches): 44.0
height (inches): 21.7

gross vehicle weight rating (lbs): 6945
curb weight (lbs): 4740
gross trailer weight braked (lbs): 5512
max payload (lbs): 2205

The Australian version of our EPA rates the Mahindra pickup fuel economy
at 9.9 L per 100 km, or 23.75 mpg. The Australian truck uses the older 2.5L
turbodiesel engine, so a rating of 25 mpg is possible with the new 2.2 L M-Hawk
engine.

This 4x4 double cab truck sells for a little more than $28,000 USD in Australia.

 

[haven]

I found a news article reporting on Mahindra's entry into the automotive market in Paraguay in 2008. Mahindra now has truck sales operations in Brasil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay, and plans to start selling in Argentina.

Most of these vehicles will be imported from India. To serve the Brasilian market, Mahindra has a small scale assembly plant for the Scorpio SUV in Manaus, Brasil. This plant may expand to serve other MercoSur countries as sales increase.

Mahindra imports trucks and SUVs to Honduras and Costa Rica from its plant in India.

 

[Redline]

The one side view picture of the Australian double cab makes the truck appear as if it has a long rear overhang.

 

[CA-RJ]

Looks like it does. Almost T-100 like.

 

[Redline]

Yep, I don't care for it. It helps keep the wheelbase short compared to the bed length, but rear overhang and 'tailswing' are negatives.

Looks like it does. Almost T-100 like.

 

[CA-RJ]

Has anyone seen any info on what the bolt pattern for the wheels will be?

 

[isaac]

So, maybe a bit off-topic, but I'm thinking out loud as an American living in India for even just a few weeks:

My overwhelming first impression is that the US will soon be totally ******&ked when it comes to manufacturing cars and trucks. Maybe we already are, and just haven't realized how irrelevant and geriatric we are yet. We are going to get our clocks cleaned by these folks, who are building wonderful vehicles of all shapes and sizes at very low costs. Sure they're missing what we'd now consider standard features... but as someone who grew up driving basic cars without fancy options packages (like no power anything, no AC, no auto transmissions etc) I am 100% comfortable in every vehicle I've been in over here.

So I think this nice little truck is going to be the first in about 50 vehicles we see in the US, eventually, that will just knock the Big Three for a loop. If they knew how to market and brand like Toyota does, it would get ugly (for us) pretty fast.

Don't get me wrong, this country is insane on 10 different levels. Gangs of teenagers and middle-aged women build modern 10 story office buildings BY HAND with NO POWER TOOLS. Which is pitiful, absurd, and impressive all at the same time. (When they figure out power tools, look out world.) But they can build wheeled vehicles at least as well as we do (net of our collapsing health care system and product quality quagmire - Detroit might do better if they weren't broke and stale) and the Indian industrialists are all partnered with the Japanese and European OEMs rather than competing with them. Good businesspeople. If they hire some ad agency like Arnold to position this stuff correctly, then never mind buying the truck: I'd just go spend the money buying stock in Mahindra. Or TATA, or Bajaj or Maruti/Suzuki etc.

My two cents. Your mileage may vary. Comments and disagreements appreciated.

 

[Redline]

very interesting observations

So, maybe a bit off-topic, but I'm thinking out loud as an American living in India for even just a few weeks:

My overwhelming first impression is that the US will soon be totally ******&ked when it comes to manufacturing cars and trucks. Maybe we already are, and just haven't realized how irrelevant and geriatric we are yet. We are going to get our clocks cleaned by these folks, who are building wonderful vehicles of all shapes and sizes at very low costs. Sure they're missing what we'd now consider standard features... but as someone who grew up driving basic cars without fancy options packages (like no power anything, no AC, no auto transmissions etc) I am 100% comfortable in every vehicle I've been in over here.

So I think this nice little truck is going to be the first in about 50 vehicles we see in the US, eventually, that will just knock the Big Three for a loop. If they knew how to market and brand like Toyota does, it would get ugly (for us) pretty fast.

Don't get me wrong, this country is insane on 10 different levels. Gangs of teenagers and middle-aged women build modern 10 story office buildings BY HAND with NO POWER TOOLS. Which is pitiful, absurd, and impressive all at the same time. (When they figure out power tools, look out world.) But they can build wheeled vehicles at least as well as we do (net of our collapsing health care system and product quality quagmire - Detroit might do better if they weren't broke and stale) and the Indian industrialists are all partnered with the Japanese and European OEMs rather than competing with them. Good businesspeople. If they hire some ad agency like Arnold to position this stuff correctly, then never mind buying the truck: I'd just go spend the money buying stock in Mahindra. Or TATA, or Bajaj or Maruti/Suzuki etc.

My two cents. Your mileage may vary. Comments and disagreements appreciated.