I like this truck. Diesel + 30 mpg + 1.3 ton towing. Wow!!!

30 mpg? thats it? i've seen heavy duties get that, thats not good for a little tiny truck like that. thats horrible

@jacob, heavy duties were never got the EPA MPG ratings which were changed in 2008 to be more stringent (lower). Also in 2007 diesels got strict new emissions that dramatically cut the MPG on the heavy duties (and other diesels). So the 30 MPG rating is with the new EPA MPG and emissions standards. Anyone that could squeeze 30 MPG out of a heavy duty could probably do a lot better than 30 MPG in a Mahindra.

Here's an idea... how about never bringing this to the U.S.!!!

got to wonder if it's having troubles meeting safety standards and emission ratings...delay, delay, delay....

Dang it! I shouldn't have checked for an update. No news was better than finding out about this. I wonder if they are trying to get it closer to the launch date of the SUV? I'm hoping some "good" dealers are in line for this and not just the GM/Chrysler "failure" dealers.

If this means a glitch free launch, more power to them.

sales in australia.

http://www.carsales.com.au/news/2009/commercial/mahindra-keeping-mum-on-sales-15981

If it means a problem free launch I'm for it. Just wish it had a manual that would great. Maybe Ford and GM will wake up and start selling the Ranger and Canyon diesel their selling EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD BUT IN THE U.S! I'm not buying the new emissions standards are preventing them from doing it because VW did it.

I'm driving a '96 S10 with over 335K miles on it. I hope to make it to the time I can buy a TR40. Another year to wait is unfortunate, and the the Big Dumb 3 could have given us a comparable truck. But noooo!
I am dissappointed that there isn't a stripped down, all manual version of the Mahindra truck too. Why jazz the thing with unneccessary pricey extras? Delete the AC, power windows locks and entry, auto trans., and carpet/cloth interior and then I'll be happier. The price would come down considerably too. Also why is this thing so heavy?

Agreed. The delays make you wonder if they are having difficulties (perfromance claims, quality, emissions, safety, financial, etc.) I think they are being very careful. When they entered the Aussie market in the 90's they had quality issues. They know that would totally kill them in the US.

I also agree that I would like to see a stripped-down manual trans version. Let's hope for that.

www.MahindraPlanet.com

concerning their tractors.....

"Is that really so surprising, though? You say “Farmers would always use brands from the States, Europe, or Japan, period.” But go back no more than a generation or so, and you can take Japan off that list. There was a time when anything Japanese was treated with the same level of scepticism as something from India is now. We’ve somehow conditioned ourselves over the past few decades to believe that there’s something unique about Japan, the only non-Western country to have successfully penetrated Western markets to the extent that it’s now treated as an equal. But the only thing unique about Japan is that it was the first. There are very good reasons why Japan was the first (US-backed reconstruction in the post-war period, mainly), but sooner or later the second, then the third, and the fourth, etc were going to come along too. And most of these other countries are far bigger than Japan. By the mid-21st century we’ll probably be amazed that anyone ever bought things manufactured in the West at all."

Decline of the West?

yeah, philosophy of history that declares the unlimited progress of man. where will it end?

@Jacob said "30 mpg? thats it? i've seen heavy duties get that, thats not good for a little tiny truck like that. thats horrible"

This is total BS. I hear this all the time from Proud 3/4 and 1-ton owners. You can't get that kind of mileage from a big truck. I drove a F250 with the gas engine and before I bought, I believe all the crap I read on the internet about folks getting 15 MPG with them. Some even claimed 19-20 MPG on the HWY. I got 12 around town. If I BABIED it, turned off at stoplights, coasted down hill and used all the other tricks, I could get 17 MPG city. But it was really hard to do. I know guys who can get low 20's with their diesels on the HWY pulling empty and driving slow. But 30? I call BS.

Ihor...diesels are heavy. The high compression (18:1 vs. 9:1) of diesel engines requires a much stouter block.

And I agree with having a stripped down version. It would be great to have a midsize without any of the extras. And if only we could get one of the BIG DUMB Archaic 3 to sell one of thier smaller trucks with an oil burner...now, what to do with all of this recycled vegetable oil.

I'd love to have a crew cab version with a diesel hybrid and a low range for pulling. So what if top speed in low range is 55 mph? I'll take it. Option for bio-diesel, petro-diesel, or plug in and charge overnight. I know you won't go more than 30 or 40 miles on batteries alone but that's enough to get you to town in an emergency.

I don't need a truck with a v-10 and low profile racing tires that goes 0-60 in 6 seconds. That's bass-ackward and butt-ignorant in a world that extracted more petroleum than we ever will again in 2005 (pending agreement by all the world's oil geologists). See theoildrum.com for more info on peak oil.

nothing down, $99 a month

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20090807/NEWS01/908070334

@johnny appleseed;

The ascendance of Japan did not lead to the decline of the west, just as the ascendance of a previous new super star country, one United States of America, did not lead to the decline of Europe, in fact in both cases just the opposite. In Economic history, new entrants to the rich mans club ad's to collective wealth, even though some individual industries will lose out.

With the level of patent creation, highly skilled workforce, and dynamism of the American economic model we will do very well with the rise of China, India and others. I know it's very popular to wallow in self-doubt right now, and a good long tail recession is just the ticket to clear of bad habits, but the structural elements of America are unmatched anywhere on this planet, and they are what count to long term competitiveness.

Where we will experience real pain is in the decline of our global political power. But that is really an extension of the success in propagating our political model around the world.

So, Bring on the Mahindra's!

I hope that they come with side curtain airbags like the new Frontier. Side impact seems to be the biggest cause of death in pickups.

It would be hard to represent yourself as high tech car of the future if it did not have side curtain airbags.

First, you guys want a stick shift, but you don't evidently realize that you can tow much more weight with an auto tranny. Look at my Colorado. It has a stick shift and can tow 1000 pounds LESS than if it had an auto. As for weight, besides the weight of the diesel, I'm sure it has one heck of a frame to haul 2700 payload. I don't think I'll try that in my POS Colorado! Yes, drop the 'soccer mom' crap off of it but keep the 6 speed auto.

I'll bet it will be a matter of a few months before some tinkers figure out how to remove some smog control stuff and make a few modifications that will get 50 mpg on highway. Add to that the potential for distilled diesel from old motor oil and vegetable oil from small back yard "refineries" ..... when the federal government goes belly up ... these machines will be worth as much as a garbage compactor in Colombia.... used to brick pot. I wish I had one. I thought Ford was making a small diesel pickup that sold like hot cakes in South America? This country is so messed up I'll NEVER vote for ANY incumbent again.

I wish I had financial backing to buy small pickups and put the perkins diesel engins in them. We have a massy furgurson tractor that is 45 years old with perkins 3 cylinder engine and it's still going and going... and there were about 15 years that it was used a LOT.... it even caught on fire and all the wiring burned up.. it just keeps on going and would easily get over 50 mpg.

What about the Ford Transit Connect Fords been building in Turkey for 7 years with 4 cyl turbo diesels. Read the blogs. They go 250-350K. miles with no rebuild and Ford has made over 600,000 of them. Pay load of 1600 lbs and 135 cu-ft of space inside, 22 MPH from the gas model in the city witch is the only one they bring to the U.S. Lets see the turbo diesel here now! Thos.

The reason diesels don't get the mileage they used to is because "greens" don't care about fuel economy, their real objective is to stop the use of petroleum. So they attack the most efficient engines with unreasonable levels of emission control for the sole purpose of driving up the price of the engine and reducing or removing the advantage over gas.

Online sale in Australia