Surprise. How many people expected the first company to re-introduce a light diesel pickup in America would be Indian? Mahindra and Mahindra has scheduled the arrival for the end of 2009:
From the onset, the company will offer a diesel-powered pickup truck in two- or four-door versions. This will be a completely federalized and revised (for the U.S. market) version of the truck sold which is known as the PikUp in India. The U.S. naming for that vehicle has yet to be announced nor has pricing information except to say it will be competitive to others in the small pickup class.
The Mahindra site is already taking sign-ups for a test drive. They should also take suggestions for the name.
Hope they include a 4×4 or an AWD version. Maybe they can name it something like Cobra, which comes to mind when thinking of snake charmers in India. A bit of irony could come from a name like Taloa, which is the Choctaw Indian word for sing. Even more irony? They could name it after the Muskogean Indian word for Red — Humma or Homma…
How could American automakers have missed this opportunity? I guess that is a silly question, given the lessons illustrated in the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car”. These marketing blurbs are exactly what we should have seen five years ago from Detroit:
Forget everything you thought you knew about diesel engines.
Turbocharged Mahindra clean diesels provide a power-packed 30 miles per gallon creating benefits beyond any other vehicle in its class.
Mahindra’s common rail diesels are cleaner, quieter, greener and more efficient than ever. Our new generation of clean-burning diesels emit 97 percent fewer sulfur emissions than old-school diesels and virtually no sooty particulates. They produce 30 percent fewer greenhouse gases per mile than gasoline engines – while getting 20 to 40 percent better fuel mileage. And they do it all while maintaining the traditional diesel advantages of more torque and greater durability.
It’s a six speed. They could call it the sixer, or the 30.6. That would really pull in the NRA crowd. Maybe they should name it the bail-out, or the stimulus.