Mahindra Trucks:

[Scooby074]

I was hoping they were going to offer a stripped down inexpensive model, but it doesnt look that way. Im not wanting the complexity/expense of a hybrid or a automatic tranny with a flappy paddle gearbox.Just give me a nice, compact, ( like the size of the first gen tacoma) simple diesel, standard tranny and an interior i can hose out and ill be happy.

Thats a niche in the market that mahindra should fill. Trying to compete with the major players like toyota, gm, and ford by offering a "deluxe" vehicle isnt going to end well. Its going to be hard to get somebody into a(relatively unknown outside of tractor circles) Mahindra dealership when they can get one of the majors for a similar price. I do hope they succeed though, then maybe they'll bring a stripped down model to market.

 

[Builder]

I was hoping they were going to offer a stripped down inexpensive model, but it doesnt look that way. Im not wanting the complexity/expense of a hybrid or a automatic tranny with a flappy paddle gearbox.Just give me a nice, compact, ( like the size of the first gen tacoma) simple diesel, standard tranny and an interior i can hose out and ill be happy.

Thats a niche in the market that mahindra should fill. Trying to compete with the major players like toyota, gm, and ford by offering a "deluxe" vehicle isnt going to end well. Its going to be hard to get somebody into a(relatively unknown outside of tractor circles) Mahindra dealership when they can get one of the majors for a similar price. I do hope they succeed though, then maybe they'll bring a stripped down model to market.

I don't think that'll be a problem for GM, Ford, etc.

Offering a small, stripped, manual tranny diesel pickup with a hose 'n go interior is just a race to the bottom.

Probably not much more than maybe $1,000-$2,000 profit per unit.

 

[Builder]

.. I'm referring to the relation between social status and TRUCK size, not 'torsion bar' size so -PLEASE- !!! dont take it personal

By the way, the comments of our politically left orientated media on Bush' casual press conference was hilarious:
They interviewed a so-called reporter who happened to just have written a book about the "disasters of Bush government": The guy wasnt subtle enough to hide that he needed this interview to generate some sales of his book today...
.

If you look at the rules, political discussion is not allowed on this website.

 

[Builder]

The biggest challenge for Mahindra, is to get this vehicle sold to people other than those who cant afford anything else... When that happens, the reputation sticks to it forever....

Uh huh. Just like YUGO.

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

The Duramax is not an Isuzu engine anymore. It was designed by GM & Isuzu, that is true. However, GM bought Isuzu out of the partnership and now it is built in Moraine, Ohio by DMAX Ltd.

Everybody remembers, exspecialy if you were an owner of GM's 6.5 litre that GM couldn't build one alone, so you are right that GM serched out Izuzu for their diesel technology they couldn't find in Detroit. The Duramax has been a success for GM. The Allison transmission is darn good also, it was GM until they sold it off last year. They keep down sizing there won't be anything left. They still build the home owner pickup version of the Allison 6 speed at Baltimore Powertrain so it's sort of still GM. The commercial truck version is built in Indianapolis at Allison.

 

[Builder]

Everybody remembers, exspecialy if you were an owner of GM's 6.5 litre that GM couldn't build one alone, so you are right that GM serched out Izuzu for their diesel technology they couldn't find in Detroit. The Duramax has been a success for GM. The Allison transmission is darn good also, it was GM until they sold it off last year. They keep down sizing there won't be anything left. They still build the home owner pickup version of the Allison 6 speed at Baltimore Powertrain so it's sort of still GM. The commercial truck version is built in Indianapolis at Allison.

Yep, GM was the last of the big-3 to build an in-house light diesel. Early models were pretty bad. The later models were better, but pale in comparison to the DMAX. Nice thing about the DMAX is now it's a division of GM wholly owned by them. It's an American plant in Ohio building diesel engines with parts from all over the world.

True, GM still builds their own light truck transmissions in the Baltimore Allison plant. However, I'm not really concerned whether or not they own Allison, just that they USE Allison.

Look at Ford, IH builds their medium trucks for them in mexico and when equipped with an automatic, it's an Allison.