First Mahindra pickup trucks to be imported from India
One upcoming vehicle that we're truly looking forward to is the midsize pickup truck from Mahindra, which holds out the promise of 30 mile per gallon fuel efficiency and the ability to haul 1.3 tons in its 7.5-foot truck bed. Those looking to add one of these small trucks to their arsenal of vehicles will be glad to hear that the automaker may be able to move up the delivery date of the first units by a few weeks. Up until now, Global Vehicles, the company that is working to bring the trucks to the U.S. market, has been planning on having the trucks assembled in Ohio from knock-down kits. The plan has recently changed and the first trucks will come directly from India.
One unfortunate byproduct of this decision is that Mahindra's trucks will now be subject to the so-called Chicken Tax, which was introduced back in the '60s as retaliation for a European tariff on imported chicken from America. Pricing isn't expected to be affected, meaning that the Mahindra pickup should still cost 10-15 percent less than comparably-sized trucks from Japan. Sales are expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year.
[Source: PickupTrucks.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gorr 11:58PM (2/13/2009)
Im interrested to buy if i got an accident with my actual car.
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jim 8:46AM (2/14/2009)
I'll believe it when I see them at a dealership. M&M still has not identified a US manufacturing partner and its not as if there is a lack of excess capacity.
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texmln 12:52PM (2/14/2009)
Whoo hoo! Third world vehicles coming to the U.S. What an accomplishment. Now we've got the cars to match our newly imported third world popultion. Coming next: previously unheard of diseases, tribal wars and shanty towns.
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Matt Groom 2:03PM (2/14/2009)
Yeah! I want one of these. It's so ugly, I won't care if I get it dirty. I've been looking for news on this, but it has been sparse. I signed up to test drive one of these, but that was the last I heard of it. As for Texmln's comments about third world vehicles coming into the US, I drive a Ford that was assembled in Mexico, and they don't come much more Third World than Mexico!
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jharlan 9:26PM (2/14/2009)
Mahindra is for real. 30MPG is a pretty good selling point. Most of you are too young to remember the first Toyota trucks. They were small, pretty hokey, but they were cheap and got better mileage than any American trucks and they really sold. My brother in law bought one, but the rear end went out on it and he told me the ring gear was plastic. I don't know if it was true, but he sold it as soon as he could.
Toyota was serious, and look at them now. Mahindra is serious, too. They are calling this thing midsize, but there is a market for small and cheap trucks.
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Mega 7:39PM (3/31/2009)
I would love to have a high miliage pick-up for the farm to get to town and haul whatever. I loved my F150, but so impractical. Looking forward to checking one out. And agree about not care if it gets dirty.
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