[Carspook]

Hello Team,

TL;DR: Need advice/leads in procuring a proper affordable UTV like CFMoto UForce or LinHai T-550 in India.

I have a farm and I'm looking for a UTV/side-by-side.
Here is some background. I reside in the western ghats and the SW monsoon is a boon for the crops and the death kneel for our roads. Getting around on the Activa during the rainy season is a mess. It just goes sideways like the KTM 750 with ABS turned off. While it is fun it is quite dangerous. Not to mention the ad-hoc luggage like pipes, pick axe, all sorts of farm equipment.
All of this made me realise having a UTV would make life easier. It would definitely help with the

• muddy roads
• farm equipment
• pumps
• electric items
• tools like axe, shovels
• the occasional people transport

Not to mention great improvement in ride comfort and confidence in going places not possible by the scooter during monsoon or the full size pickup like Mahindra Bolero pickup within the narrow tree lines. Also not to forget the most important player my Dad. You can't seperate him from the farm, so hoping UTV will keep him safe.

The search:
After seeing great commercials and having witnessed the effectiveness of UTV in farm operations outside I was just so confident that this a matter of money and would get done easy peasy. See this where I was so wrong. Two days in I quickly realised I was so wrong and had this all wrong.

The journey so far:
The search then shifted to friends and family. Quickly got two leads about UTV in one of my relatives plantation. One WhatsApp message and got the phots. The photos were such a turn off. The photos were of the flimsy imports that cost between 2-3 lakhs. They had the basic requirements like 4 wheel drive, a luggage rack. That was it. Then started looking at other options. First choice was Polaris. The Ranger was the first choice. Called up Navnit Polaris, the dealer in Bangalore that also has BMW car service centres. The sales executive was prompt and sent the required info. The basic model without accessories was priced at 14L. With the needed accessories it was close to 17L and waiting time upto 60 days. 17L was beyond our budget and did not make sense investing in it. Next on the list was Powerland in Goa. The owner took time to speak to us and assured us about the quality. You may ask why I mention this. Well Powerland gets kits from China and assembles it in Goa. They have a good website and the the clientele was great too including Govt agencies like Army, BSF. The only advantage with Powerland was that you can get the UTVs registered as tractors with RTO. This makes it road legal. They do have electrified version of the UTV. From the looks of it, it looks like Linhai/Massimo T-550. The listed price was 12L ex-showroom.
Next stop was CBU importers like Phoneix limited in Delhi. I was interested in CFMoto Uforce and Phoenix Auto were importers of the exact thing. They even had this listed in their catalogue and also had videos on YouTube. Contacted them and suprise suprise they no longer have CFMoto in stock. The contact was very honest and did mention that he wasn't getting CFMotot units anymore and has started importing Linhai T-550. He quoted 9L and put a warning that prices were gonna increase on Feb 1. Mahindra and Mahindra does make a proper UTV for export, not sure why they haven't started selling them in India. They have the network and after sales service figured out, the fact that we already own a Bolero pickup 4x4 and happy with service Mahindra ASS provides make it so sad : This definitely is a big market for Mahindra.

So Team I'm stuck here and looking for sane advise that this forum has provided like always. I'm looking for any advice or leads in procuring this UTV.

One thing is for sure I can't wait for Make in India scheme for UTV manufacturing. The Escorts UTV based on Multix looks like a distant dream and not happening any time soon and with Mahindra not showing any interest in this segment, for us rural folks owning an affordable and decent UTV remains a dream.

[Anwesh]

Hi!

How about a small 4x4 tractor like this?
https://www.indofarm.in/1026e.html

A basket or cage can be attached to carry tools and supplies.

Regards,

Anwesh

[condor]

Agree with Anwesh on the lines of a small 4x4 tractor, which can go thru the slush, is small, and will be far more cost effective. Something like a Mahindra Jivo 225 4WD should be in the range of 3.35L. A new vehicle, plus their service network would be quite beneficial too.

[shankar.balan]

Here is an interesting site.
Of all the mini tractors shown here I like the little Massey Ferguson the best.
Even Kubota has a pretty strong distribution and servicing in rural Karnataka from what I have seen.

https://www.tractorjunction.com/trac...tors-in-india/