Mahindra Markets Value-Priced Diesel Power
Jason Lancaster | Aug 03, 2009 | Comments 21
A company known as Mahindra will begin selling small diesel trucks in the U.S. market in the next few months (PickupTrucks.com reports February 2010). The very first models have yet to be named, but Mahindra has released some data and some photos that give us enough information to start forming an opinion.
Mahindra's new two-door value-priced diesel truck.
First, here’s what we know:
- Mahindra will be offering two door and four door versions of a yet-to-be-named pickup similar in size to a Toyota Tacoma.
- Fuel economy will be good – “20-40% better” than comparable gas motors. On the low side, a Mahindra diesel will get 20 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. On the high side, a Mahindra two door might get as much as 30 mpg on the highway.
- The technology will be advanced. Mahindra has years of international experience building diesel engines, and they’re promising a 6-speed automatic transmission as a standard feature. High-tech for a mid-sized pickup.
- Mahindra promises the trucks will have power – the two door will have a payload rating of approximately 2,500 lbs…which is hefty considering the Tundra reg. cab work truck maxes out at about 2,100 lbs.
- The truck will be ‘value priced’ – less than $30k for a mid-sized diesel pickup that can haul a couple thousand pounds while getting great mileage.
Sounds like a winner…but we have questions:
What about quality? This truck was expected to debut a few months ago, but Mahindra delayed the truck to make certain they had time to address some quality concerns. Mahindra is offering an excellent warranty on these new trucks (4 years, 60k miles bumper-t0-bumper), but is that going to be enough?
Tell me about resale value. If I buy one of these Mahindra trucks and I don’t like it, did I throw away my money? Until Mahindra develops a reputation stateside, there’s a lot of risk involved in buying one of these trucks.
Tell me about safety. Crash test standards in the USA are tough – so tough that most manufacturers new to the marketplace struggle to achieve decent safety ratings the first time around. Is this pickup going to get 4 or 5 stars – because that’s what it’s going to take to be competitive.
Will I want to be seen in one? The pictures are interesting – sort of a cross between a Jeep and a Hilux – but until I see one of these things in person it’s hard to say if they’ll pass the “will chicks dig me in this thing” test.
What do you think – is this new truck going to be a success?
Filed Under: Auto News
Is this a joke Jason? Haha!
Fuglyest thing I have ever seen! negative 5 stars!
Come on man it aint’ THAT bad! It’s for real – we’ll get to see them in person soon enough.
Maybe doable in Africa on a safari, but here in the states, only time will tell but I bet not. For someone who really wants a diesel and think they are the greatest to have, it is price point a very good alternative though in a more standard type of mid-sized work truck looks. Not for me though, not a chick magnet.
Mahindra Pik-Up ANCAP crash test. This was their previous model and does not have airbags. US version is said to have improved design and airbags & better crash rating than this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzVoEAdcvKg
Mahindra recently completed rally dos sertoes here in brazil. They placed 3rd in production category. It is pretty decent pickup. Not a show off truck but definitely worth a look at.
http://www.zigwheels.com/News/.....090722-1-2
It looks to have a cross between a SR5 look and a older Nissan frontier. It may have some use since it’s a midsize truck but the price maybe a little steep. I’m for one is the least bit excited about a diesel. Who will back this in the USA? Hyundai?
If it can haul over a ton when neeeded and get almost 30 dry, they will sell enough to make it worth their while.
How did they get clean diesel certification?
It may just be one of the ugliest things I have seen in a long while but if everyone remembers, people and critics said the SAME thing about the Toyota compact truck when it first entered the market. If this truck proves to be of some substanial quality WITH fuel economy, they could be around for a long time………with that being said… I wouldn’t be caught DEAD in that ugly thing!!!
Art64 – Good question, and to be honest I don’t know if they have. It’s hard to believe that they’re not 100% confident in passing emissions, but perhaps that’s the hold up. This thing is a year behind schedule.
guna – Cool link man – thanks.
carlos – Ditto.
Jeremy – Agreed. I’ve read that Mahindra will be happy with 30k to 40k units sold per year…that’s about 20% of the Tacoma’s sales volume, so it’s ambitious but not necessarily unreasonable (provided it’s safe, has decent resale, and isn’t too hard on the eyes).
Ian – Good point – ugly is in the eyes of the beholder. My first reaction wasn’t positive, but it’s hard to tell with these promotional images.
They may not be able to sell it here in California and other states with strict emission standards. I remember the VW TDI were not sold here for awhile. Checked their website, their SUV is not that bad. It’s an inexpensive version of the Land Rover without the bling and bells and whistles. But it seems like it does what its supposed to do on 4WD. Videos on youtube!!
Art64 – I gotta believe that they’ll be 50 state emissions legal, but who knows. Your point is well taken. As a side note, I also remember the VW TDI fiasco. I had a friend who ran a VW dealership in Denver at the time and he was making a KILLING selling VWs to California residents and then helping them register the cars in Colorado so they could avoid the whole problem. When the cars were two years old, the California residents would “import” them and bypass the emissions regs. I’m not saying this is OK or anything, but it’s a great illustration of why emissions standards should be the same nationwide (at least that’s my opinion).
I agree Jason. They need to be the same nationwide not the califonia B/S.
Best of luck to Mahindra…..can’t reveal much but they got dropped as a major account with a particular company.
I kind of like this truck, old fashion luck, classic look, nothing wrong with it. It is a truck !!! By e BMW if you want to impress someone.
I am all for a small diese engine. Anywhere in the world you can buy a F150 or a Tacoma diesel, it is about time for someone to bring diesel to the US. I may buy one just to support Mehindra move. Besides, in the paper, you can not beat the numbers!
But in all, I can only make make up my mind when I see it in person and test drive it. I would guess that there is a 90% of chance that I will buy this truck instead of th Tacoma that I was eyeballing…
David – I hear ya. I’d like to see one in-the-flesh before I make the final call, but there’s a lot to like. Hopefully, Mahindra can demonstrate that U.S. consumers will embrace diesel.
This is my future truck; i can get a high torque diesel engine, 30+mpg fuel mileage, a quad cab, 4 wheel drive, can out haul and tow anything but a full size, all for less than $28,000 dollars; and with it’s small size i can actually park it at the store or offroad it with worrying about any minor damage…Try that with any full size or high dollar Toy or Nissan…As for the other comments about people only wanting full size trucks; well look at the time when truck sales started to rise. the big three began phasing out rear drive “cars”; and what happened? truck sales began climbing. People switched to full size trucks to get the power and size to do their work and serve double duty as “family” haulers too. I have lost count of the number of fellow contractors and offroaders who would downsize their trucks if there was something small, reasonably priced, that had the torque, and a quad cab option, and high fuel mileage. The biggest comments I’ve seen is about the looks; who cares it’s a truck to be used as a truck…The next common comment is it’s from Indea; again who cares. The interier is from Leer (jet) Corp., the drive train from the suppliers of most of our current domestic trucks, and the rest is from Mahindra, who has been building JEEP vehicles for the overseas markets since WW2.
I’ll take mine in red, 4×4, and quad cab please…
Kevin – Great comments. You represent Mahindra’s ideal customer I think – a person who doesn’t care about looks and who really wants a diesel. Good luck on getting one, and I hope they meet all your expectations.
It’s been over 5 years since I heard that Mahindra was going to manufacture and sell diesel pickups in the US. Had serious plans about buying one but for one reason or other (which there were many of) the never hit the US market. I seriously doubt they ever will now and have given up on them. Currently my F-250 Super Duty gets a comfy 24mpg on the highway with a 7.3L diesel and my jetta gets 40mpg with a 1.9L diesel. Both with automatic transmissions.
Agreed, the U.S. Mahindra pickup is dead. We have newer posts covering it on this site.
-Tim