Posted on 04/09/2008 12:34:04 PM PDT by Red Badger
Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. will shake up the U.S. truck market next year when it introduces a new midsize pickup called the Appalachian sporting a 2.2L four-cylinder diesel engine producing around 150 horsepower and 300 pound feet of torque. Speaking with Mike Levine from Pickuptruck.com, John Perez, the CEO of Atlanta-based importer Global Vehicles U.S.A. that's aiding Mahindra's entry into the U.S. market, revealed that the truck will deliver 30 to 35 miles per gallon and cost in the mid-$20,000 range. It will be paired with a six-speed automatic that's controlled via a floor-mounted shifter or paddle shifters(!), have a class-leading payload of 2,600 lbs. and feature a 60,000-mile, four year bumper-to-bumper warranty.
If that's not enough to strike fear in domestic and import truck makers alike, Mahindra has also revealed plans to sell a diesel hybrid version of its pickup by 2010. If it happens, the diesel hybrid Appalachian will be, as far as we know, the only diesel hybrid on sale in the U.S. market and achieve fuel economy figures even higher than its diesel-only counterpart. Imagine a midsize pickup in the low-$30,000 price range capable of 40+ mpg.
The Appalachian has yet to go through U.S. certification for emissions and safety, but the company is spending $80 million to ensure its truck passes with no issues. After that, production will begin in India on March 15, 2009, but the trucks will finish assembly at a plant in Ohio to avoid high import taxes. After that, customers can visit a 300-strong dealer network with 24 standalone dealerships, one of which is already under construction.
![](http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:R8sR7daexSBGmM:www.ted-kyte.com/3D/Pictures/Spark%2520Plug.jpg";)
Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.....
If you want ON or OFF the DIESEL ”KnOcK” LIST just FReepmail me.....
This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days.....
KnOcK! effendi!............
I wonder if Americans can get use to a new car smell that includes Curry...
Now they are bringing their people home to India. Now new industry is spring up out of that country. In 5 to 10 years India will finish it's move from a 3rd world country and move into 2nd world status. Oh they will still have problems and poverty. But their SIZE alone will make them very competitive on the world market.
Mids 20’s seems a little high.....I wouldn’t pay that much for it.
Sorry, but real men only drive American trucks.
We’ll believe it when we see it.
Where are the prototypes?
We already know that there will be no Ohio plant and therefore the price will actually be considerably higher.
We keep hearing this same story.
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M&M execs had met with Georgia governor Sonny Perdue in April to discuss building a U.S. plant that would have avoided the “chicken tax”, but Automotive News says Mahindra’s automotive sector president, Pawan Goenka, told them a U.S. factory is no longer being considered.
Mr. Goenka said, “The fixed overhead of setting up a plant in the U.S. is very, very high. And with the kind of volume we foresee now, that is not a viable option.”
Payload not all that great, either.
May not carry enough people, either, since most trucks are being sold with extended and crew cabs...
As long as it's not Tim Curry.................
Well, there goes the Illegal Mexican market................
I think the original target price was below $15,000.00
Not only that, but India doesn't have a repressive communist regime to contend with. Since they are a democracy, capitalism can flourish...............
With a v-8 or large diesel to boot.
My thought also, from India I was expecting in the teens when I looked at the photo.
I will buy domestic in the truck market anyway, I tend to sell them after a couple of years and I bet this thing will take a big hit in resale until Mahindra is established here.
Amen to that!
How about THIS one? The Mahindra AXE..................
Looks like a tractor....a lawn tractor.
Could be an advantage after all....
Is made in Mexico or Canada still considered “American Made”?
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