Posted on 11/17/2006 10:01:24 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
BANGALORE, India, Nov. 16 — India’s leading sport utility maker plans to sell its S.U.V.’s and pickup trucks in the United States through an American distributor, bringing Indian-made vehicles to the United States for the first time.
“Half of the global sales in S.U.V.’s and pickups is in the United States and we want to capture at least a fraction of that to start with,” said Pawan Goenka, president of the automotive division of Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian manufacturer. The United States is the “ultimate market,” he said in a telephone interview from Mumbai.
Mahindra & Mahindra plans to sell its vehicles through Global Vehicles U.S.A., a distributor based in Alpharetta, Ga. Global would import the first group of the Indian vehicles in about a year and distribute them through a dealer network. The distributor said it had signed on 130 dealers so far and would add another 70 in the coming months.
“No Indian company has dared so far” to enter the United States market, Mr. Goenka said. He added that the deal was a sign of a newfound confidence among Indian auto companies in their quality standards and cost-competitiveness.
The deal comes at a time when global automakers are, conversely, beating a path to India to manufacture and sell a variety of models in an effort to tap the growing number of young, affluent Indians in a country of 1.1 billion.
Just last week, Mahindra & Mahindra announced a joint venture with Renault to build a plant in India with a capacity of 500,000 cars a year, starting in 2009.
In the United States, Mahindra plans to initially introduce a sport utility vehicle and a pickup. A diesel-electric hybrid version of the S.U.V. would follow.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I don't suppose they'll be offering leather seats.
How dare those greedy Americans grab up half the worlds SUV's. They should all buy little dinky cars like the enlightened Europeans.
Now there's a winner.
Can't wait for the high-tech, whoosy commercial complete with the said vehicles swooping all over the Hindu-Kush, hinting that the average Indian spends his weekends rock-climbing and hiking the hinterlands, or towing oversized loads of raw lumber.
ROFLMAO!! You read my mind!
LOL!!!.........
With the purchase of your new SUV, we will include a free Squishy! Thank you and come again!"
Hey' check out my new SUV, hop in for a ride.
Wow Bob nice car...it smells a little funny though.
it's more a cross-over than a true SUV I think
Indian vehicles have a long way to go in terms of quality. I remember reading a very negative review of a small SUV being sold in the UK, made by Tata. The only advantage it had according to the review was the very low pricing. And, of course, that's exactly how Japan and Korea and now China got their start in auto exports. Price first, quality later - unless the initial quality is too atrocious (e.g. Yugo), it's a formula that works.
That and this are the cars made for the Indian market. I doubt this is the same one being talked about in the main article.
I hear it runs on Curry.
"Scorpio", eh? I would've held out for the "Bangalore Torpedo".
I talked to a guy with a Mahindra tractor. He says it's rugged and dependable.
LOL!
The Ganesh model promises a lot more trunk space!
Just be sure not to stand behind the exhaust pipe....
That's funny. I work with a Ganesh...
And with the greenies declaring that SUVs are environmentally unfriendly, I guess the tagline at the end of the commercial can read "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."
"I talked to a guy with a Mahindra tractor. He says it's rugged and dependable."
I bought a new one with a frontend loader about two years ago, to do some of my own land clearing. I told the wife then, that I would sell it after the work was all done. Now, forget it, I use it for all kinds of things. Never part with it. Very well put together machine.
Since Bangalore is looking to change their name to Bengaluru (for "boiled beans town") that puts a slightly different slant on the "Bengaluru Torpedo!" ;-)
Then I definitely would not stand behind the exhaust pipe.
Something I would put on the back of my Excursion, if I had one.... But maybe put on my work truck (propane powered GMC 5500 complete with a 12 door johnson truck box)...
I wonder if their customer service call centers will be in Detroit.
I'm a former IT worker. Former. I understand your reference. :-)
India, eh? Better India than Malaysia, IMO. At least Indians aren't overwhelmingly raving mozzies.
When I learned (right or wrong) that Malaysians were largely BinLadin supporters I decided to purchase no Malaysian products, which seems to be a lotta music stuff these days.
Hopefully it's nothing like the Chinese SUV that scored the worst ever on crash tests. You could just hear the Chinese engineers "The Western countries say a front collapsible crash zone is a good thing, so we'll do them one better and make the crash zone extend half way through the passenger compartment."
My first thought exactly!
EVERY PLACE I said "Malaysia" above I MEANT to say "Indonesia"...
I really do know what I meant... honest....
*hangs head, leaves room quietly*
That's true - especially given the sorry state of American automakers. Where an Indian auto manufacturer could really do well is right at home- there is a rapidly-growing Indian middle class whose appetite for durable consumer goods is growing just as quickly.
Gee, you're lucky. My newest tractor is a '48 Farmall M! Well, I do have a couple in the '60s but they don't run.
":^/
Rubber parts and paint god for about ONE (1) year.
I can hardly wait. If all the Indians who already live here buy one, they'll have a built-in market. My Indian doctor, however, drives a Mercedes. He doesn't drive it very well, but he drives it.
My doctor is an Englishman and I don't know what he drives. But I like him because he has small fingers.
Looks like they're importing Hyndai consoles and controls.
The Soviets used to do this with what became known as the Belarus (tractor). Had small, medium and large size chassis, drive-trains and power take-away, and similarly scaled engines.
There's one with a Ford label on it at the San Diego county Steam Museum in Vista, CA. Looks like it was made in the 1930s or maybe even earlier, yet it also looks like someone was using it until recently.
We found another one there without a label but it'd been modified. Still had grease drippings demonstrating it hadn't been sitting around rusting.
Following that pattern there's no reason an Indian manufacturer can't produce high quality, reliable products for long term use.
"Following that pattern there's no reason an Indian manufacturer can't produce high quality, reliable products for long term use."
I feel like that's what I got. It's a no frills tractor, with a simple gearbox and clutch, a heavily built diesel engine and standard hydraulic system. It is a full size farm tractor, not the midsize versions that are so popular now from John Deer or Ford and Kubota. It is built like a tank, and I was nicely surprised how large of an oak tree that I could just push over.
Anyways, it was the most tractor I could get for the same money, and I am not disappointed. I fully expect it to be passed on to another generation or more when I'm gone. If you have some acreage, it is very handy for many, many things.
Are you talking about prostate exams? Been there, felt that.
boom, boom.....
Malaysia is a bit complex -- it is 57/60% Malay who are all mostly Muslims and the remaining 40% are either Chinese (mixture of Buddhist, Christian, Chinese religions) and Indians (Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims). The percentage of muslimes isn't overwhelming as in Pakiland, but like anywhere, if the muslimes have even 51% majority, they impose their will on everyone else.
";^)
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