What's the Latest?

[clubgitmo]

Register to stop seeing this ad!

Been a bit busy lately and haven't had time to follow the forum or the news. Can someone give me the down low on what the hold up is now?

[Andy]

I think the latest is that an official from Mahindra says that they are just about done with the EPA stuff, about to go into production, and they should be here December-ish

Here is Chris's latest article on the release of the Mahindra Pickup.

Breaking: US Mahindra Pickups to Arrive in December!

[hiluxxulih]

The real latest news is instead of getting these trucks to market in the USA Mahindra is going after an enthusiast website . so far as I am concerned Mahindra is vaporware until proven otherwise .

[Hughlysses]

Don't forget that that GV, the US distributor for Mahindra, has just sued Mahindra for failing to get deliver vehicles to them as promised:

U.S. Distributor Sues Mahindra Over Pickup Deal

[Bugman]

Originally Posted by clubgitmo

Been a bit busy lately and haven't had time to follow the forum or the news. Can someone give me the down low on what the hold up is now?

At this point I think the hold-up is Mahindra trying to get its own foot out of its a$$..

[kenny rhodes]

another yugo

[pee wee]

For those who came in late, here is a recent story about the Mahindra truck project that tries to cover its history:

LexisNexis News - Latest News from over 4,000 sources, including newspapers, tv transcripts, wire services, magazines, journals.

One thing that I noted from the article, and it may be a throw-away comment, is:

"Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed last week that Mahindra continues to pursue emission, fuel-economy and truck-safety approval."

I thought the word "pursue" was an action word, but we have heard from other sources that Mahindra has yet to apply for EPA approval. I gather from my reading that launching these trucks at the earliest possible date is not Mahindra's focus right now, therefore any launch dates mentioned are meaningless, and 2010 will likely come and go with no trucks. One other thing I noted is that one of the local Atlanta dealers that Chris had put on his dealer list (Allan Vigil ) has come out and said they asked for their money back a year and a half ago- don't you know they're thinking "good move".

[bobwilson]

I'll be honest. I had a lot of enthusiasm for this truck when I first read about it in... 2007? But the fact that there has been non-stop delays and unreliable news and information about the launch has pretty much made me lose all trust and interest in this company. At this rate one of the big 3 will likely have something along the same lines.

It appears that Mahindra simply doesn't understand the US car market. The car industry in the US is brutally competitive and you must stick to a schedule. When GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, or any other established car company shows a concept slated for production in a certain time frame, the public generally expects to have that product within that window. This isn't to say this always happens, but more often than not it does. Mahindra has so far failed to even come close to meeting their target launch date, which perhaps is forgivable to an extent for a carmaker breaking into the US market for the first time. But for me they've stepped over the threshold of what I personally find acceptable.

I will be watching to see what Mahindra does. If they succeed I might be interested. But I won't be an early adopter by any means because if they've been unable to deliver on simply getting the trucks here, then I am going to be highly wary of the service and support they might promise.

Time will tell...

[pee wee]

The topic of parts shortage to Mahindra has been mentioned before, but here it was again yesterday in an article in Reuters:

"Limited component supplies from vendors are also becoming a stumbling block for automakers such as Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti, which have had to curtail production in recent months."

Whole article at: July car sales hit record, hurdles ahead | Reuters

Once again we can speculate that the urge to launch in a new market is dampened by the inability to manufacture enough vehicles to satisfy their current markets, and even more so when they would be facing a 25% chicken tax in the U.S. that they say they will absorb until local assembly can be arranged.