Mahindra committed to Australia

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By Matt Brogan | July 13th, 2009

As Mahindra readies itself to launch the next generation Pik-Up on July 23, the Indian auto giant has also set about touring the east coast with its ‘Commitment to Australia’ Tour.

The team plans to meet with current Mahindra drivers, prospective customers and dealers in an effort to gather feedback and understand both the challenges and positive aspects of a workhorse vehicle.

“We are very committed to the Australian market and are planning on launching additional models here in the not too distant future. In order for us to do so meaningfully, we need to have our ears to the ground to know what our Australian dealers face, and very importantly, what our current buyers and those considering our vehicles want to see more of, or conversely love about our offering,” said Mr. Dinesh Choudhari, Automotive Sector Deputy General Manager (Export).

“This feedback is then assessed with our Australian team and taken back to India where we can factor all of this into our design and planning. This is imperative in order for us to launch products that deliver beyond Australian drivers’ expectations.”

The informal ‘focus groups’ will also involve other 4×4 utility drivers to workshop some of the barriers that may exist currently as the brand continues to establish itself in the traditionally tough Australian automotive market.

Mahindra Group is one of the top 10 industrial companies in India and top 50 in Asia, comprising of over 110 individual companies that operate across many sectors.

FrugalOne

*****PRIMO!*****

I think these guys should take a leaf out of Protons book and slash prices, because the Chinese are hear and mean business……

Never seen one, dont think i missed much!

But yeah, a giant in India

Cheers

F-0
Karen

The Difference in Build quality between these cars and Great wall motors is huge.

The Great Wall is such good build quality. Worth a look and Drive

best Value utes to date. With out a doubt!
jason the american

The Mahindra trucks should be entering the US market in a year or two. I wonder if these drive or ride anything like their tractors?
Jake02

The key differences between the Mahindra and Great Wall utes are the fact that Mahindras have non-miniscule amounts of power, they DONT copy every other ute on the market, they WONT crumple like a beer can if you have anything more than a slight bump and they’re good, honest products whereas the Great Wall utes are evil. Evil cars from an evil place.

Good on Mahindra, they just need to show that they exist. I’ve only seen two on the road…ever!

They do need to work on build quality though, that’s a must!

Another reason not to buy Great Wall is that Ateco is importing them. Evil car being imported by an evil company from an evil country. Great!
http://Caradvice.com.au Baddass

I think it’s pretty funny that to promote their commitment to selling cars in Australia, Mahindra had to have a photo taken of a true-blue Aussie fat farmer in front of a foreign as anything Mahindra ute. How cultural.

Farmer

Oi Baddass. What a sucky thing to say. The fat Aussie farmers are responsible for feeding your lazy ass that probably squishes into an office chair 9 – 5 on weekdays. Farmers work every damn day and during the night. He’s probably fat because he works too many hours to feed smug pigs like yourself to go and get his thyroid checked, or the fact his endocrine system is damaged beyond repair because he has to spray just the right chemicals to keep your pansy food just perfect and free from bugs and grown to just the right size just so you can have your yuppie meals in your favourite restaurant.
So, unless you are an eco aware, grow-your-own, prius driving (or bike riding) hippy, shut your pie hole. Is the guy posing in front of the Mahindra? No, unlike you, he’s real. And just remember, that fat farmer is who puts the food on your table while you get on with life.

Go Mahindra!

binladen

let’s crash a Great Wall onto a Mihindra. The Great Wall will win for sure!
Jake02

Binladen:
hmmmm I think the Mahindra might beat the Great Wall…Mahindra’s been making them alot longer and the Chinese have no concept of safety when it comes to cars (making them, even driving they’re not crash-hot at…I know many will agree with that). They just copy everyone else but should be copying their safety as well…

I’ve seen a crash test video of a Landwind 4WD (how’d you guess it’s Chinese? Lol) and it the back lights hit the wall it hit – that’s how much it crumpled! As they say, like a beercan! I cannot wait until the they test it for ANCAP, it’ll get maybe 3 stars tops!
Tomas79

I reckon these little trucks should be all right for farmers doing it tough!!

How about doing a long term test on one of these?? I would be interested to know how reliable they are??
http://carz.com/ Carz

Mahindra definitely have goals…one is to promote their cars worldwide and to gain recognition. Well it’s still nice to know that they’re doing their best to be recognized. Maybe it’s nice to give them a chance and try what their cars have to offer.
JEKYL & HYDE

but is australia committed to mahindra???

CrustyTheClown

I think thats a very good reply, time will tell, it such a small volume market in AUS [and HUGE in India] i don’t know why Mah. bother with us?

Nice cake if nothing else!

VW Freak

Karen Says:
July 13th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

“The Difference in Build quality between these cars and Great wall motors is huge.

The Great Wall is such good build quality. Worth a look and Drive

best Value utes to date. With out a doubt!”

Ummmm… do you work for Ateco?
Shak

Jake02, three starts is three too many. If the old Barina could manage only three, and thats meant to be a Holden, imagine how bad something named after a big rabbit fence is going to be.
Shak

THe Mahindra on the other hand should be okay, as TATA build a lot of things, even parts for planes, and i dont see any of them falling out of the sky. But with my own money, id buy a second hand Rodeo or Colorado.
Stevothedevo

If you buy a Mahindra you should be committed. If they want to make money in Australia – stick to what they do best and open up a nice little restaurant.

Farmer

Stevo yes you are a devo. Patronising racism is alive and well. Bet you tell your good little wife (if you have one) to do what she does best also?

Good enough to feed your foolish belly but not good enough to build a car? They proved detractors wrong with the Enfield motorbike and Triumph ventures and PS, I saw my first rockin Mahindra in Australia more than 20 years ago.

Be careful they don’t put brakefluid in your next curry…

Paul Doubya

OKAY,

There’s some great comments here, but can someone define quality a little more than a nice paint job, panel gaps that line up or covered screws.

The Great Wall Ute will shine for the first 1 or 2 years and then the planned in obsolescence will start to bite, like it does with Nissans with Chinese components.

The Indian Mahindra is not pretty, but its an honest ute, built to go for a long, long, long time. I’ve seen them with six figure mileages and driven them, they are agricultural, but they are robust.

Great Wall will make a product like your $10 toaster, take your money and shove you later on, be very very wary of this company and its origins, they don’t care a jot about longevity or robustness, you have two cars, from two very different countries with systems at each end of the spectrum.

If you care that it looks pretty and will shine at least for 2 years buy the Great Wall Ute, if you want to use it till it drops much like they do in India, buy the Mahindra, you wont be disappointed.
http://www.carazoo.com/ Carazoo.com India

Great job Mahindra
RiderX

more competition = better for consumers, in my book.

Soon we will have 5 year warranty for most cars, and 7 for Korean and Chinese cars. Bring it on, I say.
Kunngee

I have purchased a mahindra and am very happy with the vehicle,it is 3 mth old with 18,000klm on the clock and never missed a beat.living 400k from the nearest major city I do a lot of driving to and from.It has the power to pass a tripple road train and is very good on fuel averaging around 9lts to the hundred k. I cannot see where others can claim tojo,nissan and mazda are good Aussie cars,India was on our side 1939 to 1945 where was japan.
If you own one our have tried them out have your say but just to knock something different just proves that old saying “an empty vessel makes the most sound”.
Adrian

Visited the subcontinent again over Xmas ’09. A cousin had only recently bought a Mahindra Scorpio, diesel, top-of-the-range, for the equivalent of AUD35,000 (INR1.4m). Looks crap, but a 75 minute ride in it was great. Over the years I’ve seen others’ Mahindra vehicles do many years of hard work in rural areas in India where roads are very testing & different to here in Australia. I reckon they’d be okay here.

Not comparing apples & y’know, but all of my Indian-made clothing completely outlasts that made inside ‘the wall’.