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Mahindra & Mahindra Delays Entry of Diesel Pickup in US to 4Q 2009
26 August 2008
LA Times. Mahindra & Mahindra has pushed back the launch date of its diesel compact pickup trucks (earlier post) for the US from next summer to the fourth quarter of 2009.
The reason? Execs at Global Vehicles, based in suburban Atlanta, say Mahindra ordered up more testing to make sure the trucks meet the expectations of American buyers. So 25 pickups will be driven 125,000 miles each over US roads over the next several months. That’s more than 3.1 million miles.
“They want to make sure they get the vehicles right,” said Xavier Beguiristain, Global Vehicles’ vice president of marketing. “They’re very keen on that.”
The imports for the US will be Tier 2 Bin 5 compliant—i.e., 50-state vehicles. Although the vehicles, equipped with 2.2-liter, 4-cylinder diesels, haven’s undergone EPA fuel economy testing yet, the corporate expectation is that they will have a combined city-highway fuel economy of close to 30 mpg.
August 26, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted by: ejj | August 26, 2008 at 12:53 PM
I'd buy a small pick up truck that achieved 30 mpg - especially if it were diesel and had a one ton payload. The guy who commented that the big 3 will crush them - what big 3? It is the lack of innovation that has crushed the big 3. There is a huge pent up demand for diesel cars - VW has a waiting list full of people who want to purchase their recently introduced Jetta. I recently came back from a trip to the UK and was told that seventy percent of the vehicles were powered by diesel; the Landrover I drove had a six cylinder diesel and it drove great. Ford has many well respected diesel cars in the U.K.
A small diesel truck makes sense here in the U.S. because of the amount of highway driving that many of us put on a vehicle and a diesel powered car will get better gas mileage on the highway when compared to a hybrid. Also, the high torgue produced will allow someone like me to tow my horse trailer or boat while not having to drive a vehicle that is too large for my neighborhood or more importantly for my driveway.
My biggest complaint about this vehicle is that it is not made in the U.S. but again, what U.S. company is making a small diesel truck?
Posted by: loanscooter | May 04, 2009 at 01:57 PM
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If they sell trucks that are goofy looking & low quality, they are doomed - even if they get 30 mpg. Look how long it took Toyota to figure out the US market - the odds are not in Mahindras favor. All the big 3 truckmakers could be producing small diesels if they wanted to - and they would if Mahindras sales were to take off....crushing Mahindra in the process.