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Old 2nd June 2007, 10:20   #1
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Wow! Is Mahindra silently making its way into the USA? EDIT: Got EPA go-ahead Pg. 9

While some Indian car makers are exporting / exploring developing markets around the world, Mahindra appears to be slyly (yet steadily) build a strong base in the largest car market of the world : USA!

Consider this: They have already appointed 140 dealerships....all of them primarily in rural / semi-urban settings. Rives Carlberg has been hired to take care of their marketing / brand presence. Among others HP, KFC and Segway feature on their list of clients. Recently, they have doubled their capacity in response to a favourable sales chart. They are also to enter the Canadian market soon.

I think Mahindra is on to bigger things as I doubt Anand Mahindra would be happy with just selling tractors in the States. What is their current product range and who will it appeal to? Certainly the Scorpios and crude pick-ups wont do well in urban America because they arent refined enough. But no one can argue that they do the job well. And if they can be overladen and yet survive on our inexistent roads, they can surely do better on American farmlands! And no one will be able to match Mahindra in the costing of these rugged workhorses.

If there is something that Mahindra does well, its build tractors. And I think this American foray is just the start of larger things to come.

Mahindra USA Website

News Article

Last edited by GTO : 2nd June 2007 at 10:22.
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Old 2nd June 2007, 10:34   #2
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For a start, Mahindra's web-sites are definitely improving.
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Old 2nd June 2007, 10:40   #3
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Mahindra Tractors USA is (atleast was) a joint venture between a Korean company (49%) and Mahindra India (51%) with Mahindra brand name. They are doing very well in US due to their reliability and VFM. Although they can't match John Deere yet in the high end tractors, they are doing enough to get JD CEO worried. Couple of years ago John Deere the CEO was smug when asked if M&M worries the company, recently he confessed that Mahindra has eaten into their sales considerably. All in all, Mahindra has built a loyal customer base with its tractors and they are its primary market for its SUV's. If people were buying pre-2003 Kia Suv's, they would surely buy Mahindra's SUV's.
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Old 2nd June 2007, 10:44   #4
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And oh, Bajaj also has dealerships in 23 american states marketing its Auto's, three wheel goods carriers and Chetaks/legends You can buy a brand new Bajaj Legend for 2500 bucks and there are Bajaj Scooter clubs here like the Hells Angels... well, almost.
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Old 2nd June 2007, 10:46   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by condor View Post
For a start, Mahindra's web-sites are definitely improving.
Agree. Wonder why we dont get to see those tractors in India?.
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Old 2nd June 2007, 10:53   #6
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Originally Posted by GTO View Post

If there is something that Mahindra does well, its build tractors. And I think this American foray is just the start of larger things to come.
And the history of automobiles has taught us that it is foolish to write off any company , even a tractor manufacturer.. e.g. Lamborghini started off as a manufacturer of tractors in Italy as we all know..
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Old 2nd June 2007, 12:14   #7
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Automotive News has recently reported that Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. says the 25 percent U.S. tariff on imported pickups could force it to move pickup production out of India to a location that is not subject to the tariff.
The company revealed that it wants to price its two-door pickup in the "low 20s" — a pricing plan that could be confounded by a 25 percent tariff.
Mahindra Automotive Sector President Pawan Goenka says he hopes the so-called "chicken tax" will be abolished before Mahindra launches here in December 2008 or early 2009. But just in case, the company is investigating other options, including building the trucks in Georgia.


Executives from Mahindra and its US sales and distribution partner, Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga., met on April 20, 2007 with Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to discuss state support for a Mahindra auto plant.
The plant would need production capacity of about 25,000 units a year.
Other production options under consideration include plants in Australia, Brazil, Mexico or South Africa.


Earlier in Atlanta, more than 500 US retailers and others crowded into a hotel meeting room as Goenka unveiled Mahindra's planned five-model U.S. product line. In addition to the two-door pickup, it includes two four-door trucks and two five-door SUVs. Goenka said all five offerings will have diesel engines.

The US distributor for Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. expects to have 300 U.S. dealers signed when it begins selling an SUV and a pickup in the US in October 2008.
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Old 2nd June 2007, 14:31   #8
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Quote:
Goenka said all five offerings will have diesel engines.
Which of Mahindras diesels will meet the strict american diesel emission norms? Mercedes bent over backward with their bluetec thing. How good is their new CRDe wrt emissions?
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Old 2nd June 2007, 17:02   #9
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The 25% tariff is only for import pickups and not for cars? Manufacturing in a US location would be expensive.
Anyway, diesels in vehicles which qualify as commercial vehicles (like big HD pickup trucks) arent subject to emission norms I think.

(Related Thread).
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Old 2nd June 2007, 17:20   #10
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Well at least all their low grade DI engines can be used for small tractors. I feel its a matter of time Mahindra is going burn its fingers in USA unless they have the technological backing. The tractors seem to be good but still under powered for US customers and their SUV like Scorpio are going to get a solid kick in it pants. Poor quality control is only going to get a stereo typing of Indian goods abroad.

Wait and watch for Mahindra to get bankrupt in the coming decade. I still cant get over the insult of Logan. I hope US people dont fall for such cheap sleepy head lazy quality control.
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Old 3rd June 2007, 01:08   #11
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Check out Global Vehicles USA web site:

Global Vehicles USA - GV-USA

I hope Mahindra are successful in North America!
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Old 3rd June 2007, 11:56   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Which of Mahindras diesels will meet the strict american diesel emission norms? Mercedes bent over backward with their bluetec thing. How good is their new CRDe wrt emissions?
i read somewhere they are working hard to meet those emission norms ... quite a challenge ahead ...
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Old 3rd June 2007, 17:15   #13
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Is this Global Vehicles a handiwork of the Mahindras? It talks about being there since 1999 or so, ostensibly to import vehicles from around th world. However their site is all about Mahindra.

By the way did you guys check out those specs? Mahindra uses a 6 speed auto in their US vehicles. Who has developed this thing? They also have EBD, ABS, Discs on all 4 wheels, Smart Airbags...
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Old 4th June 2007, 06:50   #14
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For Mahindra to make any dent, they have to get over the ill repute their 4wd and tractors made when they were exported few years back, all of them suffered from severe reliabilty problems and consumers stopped buying them once for all, their bad rep spread big time and shoddy dealer service support ended it all.
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Old 4th June 2007, 10:43   #15
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Quote:
their 4wd and tractors made when they were exported few years back, all of them suffered from severe reliabilty problems and consumers stopped buying them once for all, their bad rep spread big time and shoddy dealer service support ended it all.
What country did they burn their fingers in?
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