Team-BHP > The International Automotive Scene


Closed Thread
  Search this Thread
57,908 views
Old 22nd November 2017, 01:35   #16
Senior - BHPian
 
maddy42's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Coorg
Posts: 2,130
Thanked: 1,326 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Quote:
Originally Posted by pgsagar View Post
Well said GTO. Thar is below par even for Indian market. I mean at the price they are selling. The body shell has been around since stone-age , in the form of MM540. They could have at least given it Wrangler look, slanting bonnet, low roofline etc. Same goes for Gypsy, too. Maruti and Mahindra are over-charging by at least 2 to 3 lakhs on 30 and 40 year old body-shells. As for US market, like you said, they are fiercely patriotic about Jeep and Chevy/Dodge/GMC pick-ups and unless Mahindra gives them more at less, they would find going very tough.
I may be proved wrong in the long run but for now why should only india get ripped off by a jugaad product which rusts in year 1 and has no safety what so ever. My cousin almost died in the Thar DI and only gods grace bought him back. Let us see how our neighbors from across oceans will react to it.

FYI: Mahindra tractors do sell out here and has some good branding going on for it. I have seen one 20 miles from home in a remote corner of new hampshire. For folks who dont know where that is, just look for north east of boston

Maddy
maddy42 is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 22nd November 2017, 03:30   #17
BHPian
 
GutsyGibbon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Southern Calif.
Posts: 751
Thanked: 4,518 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

After the lawsuits related to the launch of a small efficient diesel SUV, the US dealers are going to be very wary of Mahindra. In 2010 the US dealers had spent $100 million, for Mahindra vehicles that never arrived.
http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...rs-win-a-round

Roxor needs to be really compelling for someone to pickup a dealership given this kind of history.

If I feel that much for my ex, I may buy a Landrover , but I will wait it out till they are well established in the US.
GutsyGibbon is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 22nd November 2017, 04:44   #18
Distinguished - BHPian
 
kiku007's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: AU
Posts: 2,316
Thanked: 7,111 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

For all the pessimists out there, Mahindra has only one reply.

"Mera pass 'O' hai"

Quality, design, engineering, reliability, brand recall etc. Why bother about all that when they can fix address everything by having not one but two 'O's in the name ?
kiku007 is offline   (7) Thanks
Old 22nd November 2017, 09:27   #19
Team-BHP Support
 
vb-saan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: S'pore/Thrissur
Posts: 7,249
Thanked: 12,317 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

If it’s to reshuffle the Thar and make it ready for the US, it will be a project set to fail. But it may be good news if they do a new model which is aligned to US norms. That leap in tech can flow back into their road cars in India – maybe the next gen Thar with quality levels similar to the Wrangler at a much lower price range?
vb-saan is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 22nd November 2017, 09:35   #20
Team-BHP Support
 
Turbanator's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gurgaon
Posts: 6,681
Thanked: 28,120 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Quote:
The name of the vehicle to be manufactured by Mahindra in USA is "ROXOR", not "Thor"
Yes and it's an off-highway vehicle, not a regular 4x4 so more like a Tractor, I won't be surprised if they move towards agriculture business instead of the more competitive and demanding automotive.

There is a potential to sell farm equipment at competitive rates without worrying too much about safety or other local rules as most of the global giants like John Deere, Class are normally expensive.

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...the-usa-406630
Turbanator is online now   (3) Thanks
Old 22nd November 2017, 10:39   #21
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,335
Thanked: 298,724 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thermodynamics View Post
What is the business case for M&M to manufacture in US?
PR. That's also why Mahindra has chosen Detroit (not any other place in the USA), Toyota manufactures pickups in Texas and Jaguar-Land Rover still builds in UK (honestly, the worst country to manufacture anything in today).
GTO is offline   (6) Thanks
Old 22nd November 2017, 18:35   #22
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Calcutta
Posts: 4,668
Thanked: 6,213 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Plant in US - actually new, or a formerly closed one?

Didn't Mr. Goenka have connections with Detroit?

Quote:
Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon View Post
After the lawsuits related to the launch of a small efficient diesel SUV, the US dealers are going to be very wary of Mahindra. In 2010 the US dealers had spent $100 million, for Mahindra vehicles that never arrived..
Was wondering about the same.
What happened to the lawsuit?

Regards
Sutripta
Sutripta is offline  
Old 22nd November 2017, 22:11   #23
BHPian
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 255
Thanked: 535 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

I don't know why, but I feel that the facility is more like a 'R&D facility on steroids'. (This also gets corroborated partly from Mr. Mahindra's tweets). One can do all the manufacturing, etc. anywhere in the world. But, R&D talent tends to be largely concentrated. For eg. Silicon Valley & Bangalore for IT, etc.

Basically, they get to absorb / access / develop a lot of fairly advanced technology rather than paying heavy license fees for older technology that, can do a lot more (not sure if better) R&D there. I also think this will be very relevant from their armed forces orders perspective - the current government is definitely focusing on indigenous manufacture to save the biggest FX spend by the country perhaps after oil - Defence Spending.

So all one needs is to keep selling a few street machines there, use the feedback loop and in any case use the manufacturing facility for the farm equipment / tractors anyways. They use the technology for all their products back home & in the rest of the world.

If all goes well, there is definitely a Hummer equivalent due from M&M in Indian market soon. Or is this just wishful thinking??
aashishnb is offline  
Old 23rd November 2017, 01:41   #24
Senior - BHPian
 
maddy42's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Coorg
Posts: 2,130
Thanked: 1,326 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Could this be Mahindras entry to the ATV segment? Something like a Polaris or the Rage? As we do not have any info if the thar is ready for a safety conscious market yet.

Maddy
maddy42 is offline  
Old 23rd November 2017, 03:41   #25
BHPian
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: mangalore
Posts: 48
Thanked: 37 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

They haven't mastered the art of manufacturing a quality product here in India after being in the Automobile Industry for over 50 years yet and now they are going to compete in a matured market where consumers have stringent rights to fight back for shoddy and low-quality products. Hope Mahindra has some form of insurance in place before they dish out their products in the United States of America to cover their litigation costs. Best luck Mahindra.
johny_desparado is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 23rd November 2017, 09:43   #26
Senior - BHPian
 
sridhu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,245
Thanked: 2,732 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

I think we are reading this wrong.

Jalopnik had an article about Mahindra postal trucks being spotted testing about 2 months ago. These are also off-highway.

The employment created by the factory is also quite low - 250 people, IIRC.

So, I think it will be assembly of postal trucks from India manufactured base components.
sridhu is offline  
Old 23rd November 2017, 13:38   #27
BHPian
 
Frankenstein's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Bangalore/hyderabad
Posts: 385
Thanked: 350 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Mahindra might be thinking about it, but it's going to be an uphill climb. I'll be surprised if they actually manage to pull it off.

- The Thar is a jugaad product. Whatever you do to it, it won't meet the quality expectations of the American market. Mahindra will need to start on a clean sheet of paper frankly; the Thar won't be a good starting point.

- With its antique underpinnings, there is no chance that the Thar will clear the stringent crash tests of the USA. Impossible.

- Mahindra will have to spend crores in meeting the USA emission norms. It's one thing to sell tractors for farm use in the USA, but entirely another to bring a road-legal car. Remember, USA emission norms are so strict that even VW resorted to blatant cheating to pass them.

- What's it going to do to Mahindra's image? Americans are fiercely patriotic about the 'Jeep' and a Thar-lookalike will just come across as a knockoff of the real thing. How would we see it if a new Chinese brand were to launch a cheap lookalike of the Maruti Swift in India?

Instead of building a "Thor" for the USA, Mahindra should build a top-quality "Thar" for the Indian market. A Thar that has the build quality of an XUV500.
When Royal Enfield can sell in England , which was again their product initially and now is a cheap knockoff , still sells for the vintage look, why not Thar which is a knock off of the classic Cj5 , sells provided it passes the norms, again there will be a huge price and size advantage over the wrangler, gone are the patriotic days, they prefer Japanese cars to american cars , maybe Harley is an exception.
Frankenstein is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 23rd November 2017, 15:14   #28
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: MH01/TS09
Posts: 693
Thanked: 1,757 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Firstly, I don't think it is going to be Thar which will be launched in the USA. The Thar will never meet the homologation requirements of the US.

M&M had already established MNATC long back which apparently should have been working on some product (MUVish/SUVish/VANish I don't know).

Even if the product is a failure M&M will have access to the state of the art component supply network in Detroit who can design in the US (but manufactured in India in the long run).

The postal delivery van and a partial success in GenZe are clear intentions of where M&M wants to be in future.

Beyond the US, M&M could look for manufacturing EU & Latin America vehicles there for the future.
1.2TSI7DSG is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 23rd November 2017, 15:16   #29
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: MH01/TS09
Posts: 693
Thanked: 1,757 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sutripta View Post
Plant in US - actually new, or a formerly closed one?

Didn't Mr. Goenka have connections with Detroit?


Was wondering about the same.
What happened to the lawsuit?

Regards
Sutripta
Dr G is from GM. He has been in Detroit for years together.
Lawsuit- Mostly an out of court settlement if I am not wrong.
1.2TSI7DSG is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 27th November 2017, 23:24   #30
BHPian
 
troublemaker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Nutley/Ahmedabad
Posts: 254
Thanked: 114 Times
re: Mahindra Roxor (based on Thar) to launch in USA

If Mr Mahindra is thinking even a little, I don't think he will go after the mainstream car/SUV market. Mahindra products are far behind in every aspect compared with anything selling in America. Don't get me wrong; I use an XUV but I have lived in US for 15 years and know that market as well.

If they go for some nice market like postal trucks or ATVs or farm vehicles, that would be a really good idea and there would be chances for success.
troublemaker is offline  
Closed Thread

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks