M&M blazes into Humvee club with Axe

[nbr]

I showed it to my uk & australian friends,everybody is suprised the way India is growing. Cheers to India.

[vabs78]

Originally Posted by Monster_BHP

on the other hand doesn't it look like a cheap imitation of the Hummer! I mean they could have finalized hundreds of designs that looked diffrent but why one that looks like a hummer!

Nop, IMO it looks better than hummer. Little crude may be, but still better than hummer.

[dinar]

Originally Posted by speedy

i was studying the picture closely and i think you could be right. but i would like to wait for internal conformation if we do get any till then we can only presume.
the reason i feel it is a manual is because war cars were not made in automatic.

. yes i know about mahindra's tie up for auto gear boxes for their export model pickups. maybe they did use it to power the axe. the pedal still comes from the scorpio.
will try getting information from the army itself. know an ex armyman.

hey speedy you said specifically that hummers used in the army are manual cars...I am talking about the hummer used by the US army not the indian vehicles...


[/quote] dinar i was talking about the indian army cars. could you show me one jonga or cj or any other small vehicle driven by the jawans. the axe could be an exception.[/quote]

what do u mean... Jawans do not drive jeeps in Indian army....all the driver assigned are, I believe are jawans....

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Mayavi

Mahindra's website doesn't mention it now but couple of years ago it had a mention of technical collaboration with Israel APV maker to make RAM 2000 for Indian Army. This might be the result of that collaboration.

Seems to be true. Even the name AXE is not original.

Pics of the original AXE, made in Israel, can be seen at Bharat-Rakshak.
Here's the link:

Bharat Rakshak Forum :: View topic - Miscellaneous Pictures - Indian Military

Visually, the Mahindra version looks identical to the Israeli one, except for the lights.

The wrong wiper direction also has an explanation now!

[Spitfire]

Freaking awesome, that thing will scare the hell out of the autorickshaws and the Cabs.

[abdul 65 amg]

what type of engine is it going to have?so is the new Mahindra Axe a copy of an israeli car or a 100 % indian made?

[Gurkha]

Looks like the rip off of the old Trax including the suspension.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by abdul 65 amg

what type of engine is it going to have?so is the new Mahindra Axe a copy of an israeli car or a 100 % indian made?

Seems to be Indian made with design provided by the Israelis.

[bhogalrajnish]

Raid in your OHC!! Good luck my friend.

Originally Posted by dhirajs

A few more..... i wish i could take one of these to the raid this year,but...i will be doing it in an OHC ;-)

[abdul 65 amg]

thanks for the information.when will they launch the car?

[dhirajs]

Originally Posted by autopsyche

Just had a meeting with a getleman from Mahindra Defence Systems... will be going over to look at the construction facility of TheAxe on monday or wednesday. Meanwhile go to know a lot of things about the vehicle, especially the engine and drivetrain... cant reveal stuff yet, but pics and details will be in Autocar anniversary issue which hits the stands tomorrow. Cheers.

Arush

Arush,any updates??? did u go to the facility?
How much is it for?Whats under the hood?

Tel tel

[lurker]

ok dear gents, here's the lowdown

Desi Humvee avatar is here-Q&A-News-Indiatimes Wheels
Desi Humvee avatar is here
Nandini Sen Gupta

[ TNN ]WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2007 05:21:50 PM


M&M Axe, custom-made for the Indian army is the local answer to the iconic Hummer It’s mean. It’s muscular. And it’s capable of navigating just about any terrain. No, we aren’t talking the Transformers here. We are talking the new Axe from Mahindra defence systems, the all-terrain vehicle custom-created for the Indian Army.

In a chat with us, Brigadier Khutub A Hai, CEO, Mahindra defence systems, spoke about the Axe; why it’s better than a Humvee, and more.



Is the Axe a brand new platform? Has it been developed completely in-house?

The Axe was designed with help from an overseas designer. It’s an extreme terrain vehicle. It’s an absolutely new platform and it has been developed totally indigenously. It’s a light specialist vehicle developed for the Indian Army.

Is it only a soft top vehicle?
It’s basically soft top though we do have a hard top version too. It is custom built for the Indian Army.

Do you have the Axe in both petrol and diesel powertrains?
There are two versions. The petrol version uses a more than 4 litre GM Votec engine (which powers the Chevy Blazer) while the diesel uses a 2.7 litre Ssangyong diesel (which powers the Rexton). It’s an all-wheel independent suspension vehicle. The transmission system is a Mercedes Benz one. We have used top-of-the-line aggregates. Its USP is its suspension system which gives it extreme mobility. We have developed the petrol version for the special forces of a foreign country while the diesel one is for the Indian Army. The Axe is not cheap but it is competitively priced vis-a-vis the Humvee or Flier.

Have you forged sourcing arrangements with GM and Ssangyong? Will you replace the imported diesel engine with a Mahindra engine at some stage? Will this vehicle be launched in a civillian avatar as well?

We have an agreement with Ssangyong for the diesel engine. As for the GM engine, we will get that when we commercially produce the vehicle. The vehicle will come in a civillian version as well. We hope to have it on the road by 2009 with an automatic transmission. We will be strapping on a Mahindra diesel engine on it at some stage. We will homologate the Axe for the civillian market and before that we will enter the military version in the Dakar Rally in 2009.

So we will be able to buy a civillian version of this vehicle soon? Will it look different?

The civillian version will be homologated with styling and other changes. But it will use a Mahindra driveline. The basic characteristic of performance will be the same but the looks will be different like the Humvee and Hummer. The engine displacement will be lower and there will be cosmetic changes on the dash. But the suspension and platform will be unchanged. It will be only diesel and with automatic transmission. We will showcase it at the Auto Expo.

What kind of mileage does the Axe offer in its military avatar?

The diesel offers around 8-9 km per litre while the petrol offers 6/7 km per litre. It is a lifestyle product with extreme roading capability. The Axe has a payload of 120 kg with a 3500 GVW.

Will you export the Axe?

Yes absolutely. We will market it in Malaysia next year in its diesel version. We are looking at it globally. The first step is Malaysia, countries in Africa, Gulf, UAE and Jordan. The next stage is US debut in 2009. In all likelihood we will tie up with a global partner.

Are you investing in a new facility for defence vehicles?

Mahindra Defence Systems is setting up a factory in Faridabad with a focussed facility to make military vehicles ground up. We are investing around Rs 50 crore in it. It will be a first of its kind facility. We will do all vehicle armouring, up-armoured vehicles and the Axe at the new plant. It will have modern proto-shops, manufacturing capability and a test
track. It should be up and running by March 2008.

Is the plant part of a new strategy for Mahindra Defence?

We want to make a range of vehicles based on military platforms in-stead of using Mahindra platforms as before. We will use existing Mahindra platforms for existing products and use Axe for new products. The Axe versions will include high mobility vehicles and light armoured vehicles. We want to make the Axe the standard vehicle which will replace the
frontline jeeps.

Did AM General contact you for licenced production of the Humvee?

Yes they did. But it’s good that we didn’t go with a foreign company for licenced production. Our new product ties in with M&M’s global aspirations. We spent a modest $10 million on the Axe and we want to make a global product that we can sell in all markets.

[sabret00the]

[quote=lurker;547883]
Is it only a soft top vehicle?
It’s basically soft top though we do have a hard top version too. It is custom built for the Indian Army.

Hmm,I guess they will slowly come up with different version like the Hummer

Do you have the Axe in both petrol and diesel powertrains?
There are two versions. The petrol version uses a more than 4 litre GM Votec engine (which powers the Chevy Blazer) while the diesel uses a 2.7 litre Ssangyong diesel (which powers the Rexton). It’s an all-wheel independent suspension vehicle. The transmission system is a Mercedes Benz one. We have used top-of-the-line aggregates. Its USP is its suspension system which gives it extreme mobility. We have developed the petrol version for the special forces of a foreign country while the diesel one is for the Indian Army. The Axe is not cheap but it is competitively priced vis-a-vis the Humvee or Flier.

Whoaw

Have you forged sourcing arrangements with GM and Ssangyong? Will you replace the imported diesel engine with a Mahindra engine at some stage? Will this vehicle be launched in a civillian avatar as well?

We have an agreement with Ssangyong for the diesel engine. As for the GM engine, we will get that when we commercially produce the vehicle. The vehicle will come in a civillian version as well. We hope to have it on the road by 2009 with an automatic transmission. We will be strapping on a Mahindra diesel engine on it at some stage. We will homologate the Axe for the civillian market and before that we will enter the military version in the Dakar Rally in 2009.

So the military will be using a manual transmission while the civilian version will use an automatic

So we will be able to buy a civillian version of this vehicle soon? Will it look different?

The civillian version will be homologated with styling and other changes. But it will use a Mahindra driveline. The basic characteristic of performance will be the same but the looks will be different like the Humvee and Hummer. The engine displacement will be lower and there will be cosmetic changes on the dash. But the suspension and platform will be unchanged. It will be only diesel and with automatic transmission. We will showcase it at the Auto Expo.

that's too bad...I still like the size and crude looks of the H1...hate the H2 & H3

What kind of mileage does the Axe offer in its military avatar?

The diesel offers around 8-9 km per litre while the petrol offers 6/7 km per litre. It is a lifestyle product with extreme roading capability. The Axe has a payload of 120 kg with a 3500 GVW.

that's a killer mileage for such a giant of a vehicle...wow

Did AM General contact you for licenced production of the Humvee?

Yes they did. But it’s good that we didn’t go with a foreign company for licenced production. Our new product ties in with M&M’s global aspirations. We spent a modest $10 million on the Axe and we want to make a global product that we can sell in all markets.

Dont tell me that Hummer will be manufactured in India?

[sabret00the]

check out the video of the IDF AXE in this link

Well Mahindra is just the manufacturer of the IDF AXE (manufactured for the Israeli defence forces) and since the original vehicle is a LHD hence u can see that the Indian protos although RHD but have wipers set the LHD way...

[GTO]

Originally Posted by lurker

The transmission system is a Mercedes Benz one.

Thats it! I was right about the slush-box.

The vehicle will come in a civillian version as well[/i]. We hope to have it on the road by 2009 with an automatic transmission. We will be strapping on a Mahindra diesel engine on it at some stage.

Mahindra has one potential customer ready right here. But why local engines for the civilian version?!! Go the entire mile and give us the 4 liter.

The diesel offers around 8-9 km per litre while the petrol offers 6/7 km per litre.