Author Topic: An India diesel pick up (Read 12058 times)

airbalancer · « **on:** January 18, 2008, 04:25:33 pm »

Something that is interesting, a small diesel pickup

http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/stories/mahindra/jperez.html

Some might say that importing a small, four cylinder, diesel-powered, six-speed automatic pickup of Indian origin into the United States in hopes of finding sales success would be a foolish venture, at best. After all, what buyer would gamble spending hard earned dollars on a pickup from a country more renowned for Bollywood instead of building trucks capable of hauling wood?

John Perez is a man willing to take that bet.

Mr. Perez is the CEO of Global Vehicles U.S.A. (GV-USA), an Alpharetta, Georgia-based automotive import company that Indian farm equipment and vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has partnered with to bring Mahindra's new pickups to these shores - a regular cab and two crew cab models.

Don't laugh. Mr. Perez has history on his side.

By the time Mahindra's haulers go on sale in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2009, we'll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the birth of the import compact truck in America. In 1959 another small, Asian-based company started selling a few Japanese-sourced 37-horsepower pickups with the funny name 'Datsun 1000'. Today that company sells tens of thousands of midsize and full size pickups, not to mention every other type of vehicle, under the Nissan brand.

Will Mahindra repeat Nissan's success? Only

safristi · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2008, 08:12:44 am »

Indian diesel pickup......." Hallo i'm Rashid wanna see my Mercedes etchings!!???"...Oooh GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME.....

...

sailor723 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2008, 06:36:05 pm »

3-4-5-6 dollar per gallon fuel may change a lot of things.

Also, I'm old enough to remember when "Made in Japan" meant "junk"

safristi · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2008, 06:40:22 pm »

BUT were ya SMART enuf to avoid BUYING IT!!!!!

sailor723 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2008, 10:41:02 pm »

Quote from: safristi on January 20, 2008, 06:40:22 pm

BUT were ya SMART enuf to avoid BUYING IT!!!!!

Oh yes....back in the 70's I had that paragon of automotive reliability............a TR6....

safristi · « **Reply #5 on:** January 21, 2008, 01:55:59 pm »

Scaerio · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2008, 04:00:43 pm »

I saw one of these trucks while driving from Sarajevo to Belgrade last fall...

rrocket · « **Reply #7 on:** January 22, 2008, 07:37:24 pm »

^^Yea...unfortunately some people do...

Serniter · « **Reply #8 on:** January 31, 2008, 11:21:00 am »

"low twenties" is way too much money for a vehicle like that, advanced diesel or not.

The Mighty Duck · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2008, 06:38:09 pm »

It's kind of ugly... though I do love the orange one with the bush bars and seventeen flood lights.

Serniter · « **Reply #10 on:** February 12, 2008, 07:55:30 am »

And now, a hybrid too:

http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/news/mahindra/dieselhybridandmore.html

TJ Sask · « **Reply #11 on:** February 18, 2008, 09:19:03 am »

Has anyone heard if they are going to import into Canada? I like the idea of being able to get a truck that size with a small diesel, it is something we lack here. My only concerns with it would be reliability and parts availability. It might end up being comparable to buying a Lada or a Yugo.

airbalancer · « **Reply #12 on:** February 18, 2008, 09:29:50 am »

Does anyone think it looks like the old Jeep Comanche

barrie1 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 18, 2008, 05:48:11 pm »

You beat me to it and yes it sure does copy the older Jeep Design totally. Hard to say wether there has been any copyright infringement or not as Jeep will have to determine that. A 4cyl Deisel may be a good plan especially with a 6sped auto behind it. I wonder just how good the milage will be on this vehicle as I figure it should be quite good actually. Its the dependebility that has to be proven 1st before you will sell many of them in North Americ or anywhere else for that matter.

dorin · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2008, 12:11:21 am »

Quote from: barrie1 on February 18, 2008, 05:48:11 pm

You beat me to it and yes it sure does copy the older Jeep Design totally. Hard to say wether there has been any copyright infringement or not as Jeep will have to determine that.

Other than the fact that both vehicles are medium-sized pick-up trucks there's nothing really in common between the two of them. Suggesting there's some kind of copyright infringement is just plain silly and/or show a lack of understanding of what copyright is.

In case people didn't look, this is what the Mahindra truck looks like.

Mitlov · « **Reply #15 on:** February 19, 2008, 02:35:59 am »

Well, it has a bed and windshield wipers and rubber tires, so it must be a copy of a domestic pickup, right Barrie?

PJungnitsch · « **Reply #16 on:** February 19, 2008, 03:36:01 am »

Strangely enough Mahindra & Mahindra got their start in 1942 building Willy's Jeeps from knocked down kits, and moved up to full local license-built production of Jeep CJ-3's, which they still build now. So there is some Jeep genetics in the Mahindra company. Can see it a bit in the grill.

tenpenny · « **Reply #17 on:** February 19, 2008, 08:10:24 am »

The grill is definitely inspired by the Jeep, and that piece of plastic trim behind the side windows. But that's about it. And it's not a copy, just an inspiration for the design, I'd say.

Mitlov · « **Reply #18 on:** February 19, 2008, 09:40:28 am »

Quote from: tenpenny on February 19, 2008, 08:10:24 am

The grill is definitely inspired by the Jeep, and that piece of plastic trim behind the side windows. But that's about it. And it's not a copy, just an inspiration for the design, I'd say.

There's a similarity to the grill, but I'm not sure that means it was inspired by it. Did BMW "inspire" Pontiac, or did they just happen to have similar designs? There are only so many different ways to shape a grill.

barrie1 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 20, 2008, 12:14:45 am »

To me the grill and the overall shape of the cab as well tells me its somewhat copied from a Jeep. The actual size and configuration also says Jeep to some degree as well. This is just my personal view is all. Might be a allright truck for all I know. Only time will tell if the do well here and even are sold here also.