[rakesh_r]

Some updates on the new Force Gurkha:
Apart from the powertrain, suspension and 4x4 hardware updates, the new Gurkha will also be getting:
1- Internally adjustable ORVM which can be folded from inside (still being tested, will be implemented if successful)
2- Bigger and better HU
3- Front seat armrests
4- Fully digital speedometer and Tachometer with integrated TPMS (Like the Thar), speed and rpm readings will be purely digital.
5- Grills for headlights, indicators and fog lights, will these be given as accessories or right from factory needs to be seen. Personally, I didn’t like the design.
I have seen the pics, unfortunately couldn’t get them.
FM currently is working on the NOX sensors, and what I heard they are at the end of the process. The new Gurkha should be hitting the showrooms by end of August.
Will I exchange my BS6 with the new one? The powertrain and suspension updates are tempting me to upgrade, but the adblu requirement and additional electronics are something which is pulling me back as the current one is mostly mechanical. Will wait and watch.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

4- Fully digital speedometer and Tachometer with integrated TPMS (Like the Thar), speed and rpm readings will be purely digital.

In my opinion, this is is totally unecessary and scary, especially coming from Force Motors. The Thar and Scorpio etc have dials and they are perfectly fine. I don't know whey Force is trying to do an XUV700 with a vehicle that is supposed to be rugged off-roader. Really bad move, if this is true.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

The powertrain and suspension updates are tempting me to upgrade, but the adblu requirement and additional electronics are something which is pulling me back as the current one is mostly mechanical. Will wait and watch.

If they want to offer more power and burn more fuel, then no option other than go for ad-blue/nox trap to become BS-6.2 compliant. Everyone else has gone that way. Force managed so long because of the limited power output of the current engine.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

In my opinion, this is is totally unecessary and scary, especially coming from Force Motors. The Thar and Scorpio etc have dials and they are perfectly fine. I don't know whey Force is trying to do an XUV700 with a vehicle that is supposed to be rugged off-roader. Really bad move, if this is true. .

I echo your thoughts, coming from Force Motors, I can’t trust their electronics. How reliable will the 4wd hardware be, only time will tell.
I wish the Gurkha 6.1 had come with the upcoming powertrain.

[PaddleShifter]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

I wish the Gurkha 6.1 had come with the upcoming powertrain.

The ideal Gurkha is the current one with updated Ground clearance/ suspension, a better steering wheel (design wise) and slightly better plastic quality on the dashboard with same design.

Current engine is fine too as it doesnt need AdBlue so there will be little issues for those visiting high altitudes. No DEF issues etc.

https://youtu.be/uV5lOyqvahc

It is appaling to see the above video in which the owner talks about leaks etc. They have been selling vehicles with this engine for years and still the SUV owners are facing such challenges. Force should better focus on providing a leak free Gurkha than further complicating the matters by providing more electronics.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter

The ideal Gurkha is the current one with updated Ground clearance/ suspension, a better steering wheel (design wise) and slightly better plastic quality on the dashboard with same design.

Current engine is fine too as it doesnt need AdBlue so there will be little issues for those visiting high altitudes. No DEF issues etc.

It is appaling to see the above video in which the owner talks about leaks etc. They have been selling vehicles with this engine for years and still the SUV owners are facing such challenges. Force should better focus on providing a leak free Gurkha than further complicating the matters by providing more electronics.

One area and I believe Fm has apparently sorted out in the upcoming version is the quality of seals, to be honest it's a bit bad. I had to get the front axle seals replaced twice owing to leakage. I did see a leak at the same spot for some time, but for some reason it has mysteriously stopped, which leads me to the suspicion on the axle itself, which for some reason is eating up the seals. I will probably take this up during the next service scheduled in August.
The next issue FM needs to concentrate is on the warranty claims, its horrendously slow, even slower than a snail's pace. My vehicle used to pull towards the right while braking. They had my vehicle for close to a week (during new years eve). But at the same time, the Pune dealership has been providing exemplary support (my experience), thanks to Mr Vivek Dave, the territory manager who is stationed at the dealership, and the head mechanic who specialises on the Gurkha . Fast forward, they picked up my vehicle and drove it down to the Force Motors R&D facility (brownie points for staying in Pune) where the engineers drove the vehicle and confirmed the issue with the front discs, which was promptly replaced.
FM is trying hard no doubt, but they still need to put in more efforts to instill confidence, and they can achieve only if they overhaul their QC.

[DicKy]

Rest assured it will be either some 90s Casio era digital display, like in the cheaper Tatas or would be some cheesy stuff with the the current bright blue backlighting. Why couldn't they do something else meaningful to the interiors. Well, that would be more expensive than just slapping on some vendor supplied instrument cluster.

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

If they want to offer more power and burn more fuel, then no option other than go for ad-blue/nox trap to become BS-6.2 compliant. Everyone else has gone that way. Force managed so long because of the limited power output of the current engine.

So that explains why the Gurkha didn't get the 115bhp tune with the same engine as the Traveller/Urbania. Was wondering why.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by DicKy

So that explains why the Gurkha didn't get the 115bhp tune with the same engine as the Traveller/Urbania. Was wondering why.

The Traveller Ambulance got the 90bhp tune to avoid adblue complications.

[Zezé]

Any updates regarding the manufacture and launch of the 2023 update of the Gurkha?

[Ksingh544]

Originally Posted by Zezé

Any updates regarding the manufacture and launch of the 2023 update of the Gurkha?

Hi Everyone,

I just had a called with Rohit Autowheels Pvt. Ltd, the dealer in Gurgaon regarding the updated Force Gurkha 2023 launch.

He has confirmed that the launch is now delayed to end September/early October as they havent received the requisite approvals.
Which in reality means that deliveries will only happend around Diwali 2023.

The updates that he has confirmed are -

1. Engine will be 138 bhp
2. Tyre size to 18 inches
3. Change in 4x4 lever
4. Minor changes to dashboard and interiors
5. My guess is that adblue will now be needed

I am amazed when such big companies get their strategy so wrong. The Gurkha in its niche audience set had commanded a decent fan following. And was being seen as a proper alternative to the Thar.
Just as their brand recall was growing, Force Motors stopped manufacturing since January 2023 and since May/June 2023 there is no product in the market.
Add to that no updates to their community about the launch of the updated 2023 Gurkha.
Their Digital Marketing is so poor, they keep reposting content from any Gurkha owner with complete disregard to if it complies witht their brand architechture or not.
Top that off with the use of poor stock images and footage.

Its frustrating to see a good product being ruined yet again by poor planning.

K.

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by Zezé

Any updates regarding the manufacture and launch of the 2023 update of the Gurkha?

What I heard but can't confirm is the Gurkha might come with 6 airbags, which i guess will be mandatory from Oct 1st of this year?

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

What I heard but can't confirm is the Gurkha might come with 6 airbags, which i guess will be mandatory from Oct 1st of this year?

If the 6 airbags rule is going to be introduced from 1 October 2023, I guess we're looking at a launch in 2024.

Force Motors always seems to be playing regulatory catch up. It was known that BS 6.2 norms would be effective from 1 April 2023. But the new engine wasn't ready, so production was stopped.

Ironically, these types of snafus don't seem to have dented investors perception of the company. From a low of INR 1,122.00 on 27 March 2023 the share price of Force Motors closed at INR 3,488.60 last evening.

Hopefully, the management doesn't conclude that further delays will lead to even higher market cap.

[sanemate]

The 4WD knob looks so out of place, looks like a mixer grinder knob . I wish they had worked on the interiors a bit as well. Hopefully, this isn't how the final product would look like.

Source

[ThatBalenoGuy]

Halfway through August. They say it's launching soon.
But looking at things, send it's setup for 2024

FM, if you're listening.
Few things that need to be there to compete with vehicles of 2024.

1. NOT HAVE ZILLION VARIENTS. one engine, one body style and having varients around that is fine. Having more options and a zillion gizmos like the lifted hatchbacks driving the top model pricing to 2x of base model price is plain stupid. The identity and unique character of the vehicle is lost. It's like buying at appliance which a passionate Gurkha fan won't like.

2. BETTER SPACE QUALITY. Setup a contest in vehicular design colleges or architectural colleges where the winners design will be chosen to be put in an actual vehicle. Lots of young ideas you will get. You will only have to figure out the 'making it work' part. Your R&D team would be able to do.
More importantly, the interior space of the Gurkha is large, it can be used more cleverly. It's time we not screw in woven strap bottle/cup holders.
Also this will give you insights on how to better integrate speakers and armrests. Have clever hooks for storage nets. Detachable Food trays and what not which can be sold as accessories. Like old 80s-90s Japanese/German vans and other quirky family vehicles, we need that more than having 15 screens which work 50% of the time.

3. BETTER VEHICLE DYNAMICS: yess the Gurkha in the current generation is a real tall vehicle comparable to trucks and can share window sill elbow elevation with buses, but it seems the chassis is still not well integrated into the body. I'm not saying it should behave like monocoques, or have portal axles like the monster Gurkha showcased at the expo. but you see cars like the Innova and fortuner. The centre of mass is well distributed, there's high floor but there's also ground clearance. Good on and off-road behaviour which gives people confidence to take it places without getting stuck. Making the Gurkha pass a noose test at 50-80kmph is what I'd like to see. Sharing videos of the vehicle achieving that much goes a long way without marketing it to more people. Minor track width updates to the current chassis design should achieve that.

4. MAKE IT CLEVER:
this is kind of adding to point 2. Make clever use of space. The rear seat folding down without a hump in the flooring, having modular accessories like say for camping, for touring, etc different use cases. Just a thumb screw in piece which integrates into the existing part of the car which can deploy even necessary and can be cleverly packed back into the car. Let people know that the car is cleverly thought of with respect to user experience of it.
It's fine if the car is not the jack of all trades, but it should do any one thing really well. So be it touring with your family to places in whole of India with additional offroading hardware which is at your disposal is a bonus for when you need it
For that person who will need it.
It doesn't necessarily have to follow the G wagon footsteps but can be still be a car which is desirable. It can be smart without zabardasti adding vulnerable "electronics and technology"

5. Character:
This is one thing which has stayed true right from the beginning. The vehicle has it's own identity and was purpose built for it. That's what made it great. Yess it had Mercedes insides but over the decades, people have made it their own and have upgraded it, personalized it. That issue is enough data to know what people want from it.
The BS4 army spec Gurkha was fantastic, regulations aside, that is what should have been the starting point. The current Gurkha kind of went a little away from that. The body work is fantastic. But Chassis improvements which make it compete and beat the BS4 Xtreme with decent onroad mannerisms like the BS6 will make it a desirable vehicle.

6. MARKETING:
Hire someone with atleast a pav kilo understanding of what the public sentiment is and how clever marketing will drive sales. Most companies have like a HUGE marketing budget. Which builds public awareness and desirability. Which brings sales.
If they continue with resharing content online or make the informative video content strategy, they will be at the back of the pack barely selling a few
Experiment with the car, break things. Need more involvement in Adventure. Make people want to buy the car and do the same with their machines. That's what is needed.

DEALERSHIP EXPERIENCE:
The car can do so much better. But not while service centre peeps have a Sunday Off because their commute is longer. You show up, do only a few things really great. And you succeed.

it's a lovely car and I'd still buy the BS6 5 door the moment it launches. But it's good to have things coming from the factory then relying on aftermarket equipment.

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by ThatBalenoGuy

Halfway through August. They say it's launching soon.
But looking at things, send it's setup for 2024

FM, if you're listening.
Few things that need to be there to compete with vehicles of 2024........

.............it's a lovely car and I'd still buy the BS6 5 door the moment it launches. But it's good to have things coming from the factory then relying on aftermarket equipment.

Willy nilly we're likely to see the vehicle launched only in 2024 but not for the reasons that you have painstakingly listed in your post. If FM implement what you have listed the launch will be indefinitely postponed to God know which year.

I agree with you that it's a great vehicle but the sheer lack of planning and poor execution has led to this sorry state of affairs. Hopefully, the initial batches of the vehicle will not be rushed to the market without proper QC.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by Ksingh544

I am amazed when such big companies get their strategy so wrong.

If you see the history of the Gurkha, Force Motors is always behind the curve. By the time they design and launch, the world has moved on. Then they will sell to 10 fans and then go back drawing board. Then launch again and find the industry has moved on. This cycle keeps repeating.

Originally Posted by sanemate

The 4WD knob looks so out of place, looks like a mixer grinder knob.

This is the same one that was in the Force One SUV and the earlier Scorpio SUV. Most likely a vendor for Borg Warner, hence the similarity. No vendor is going to commit to make new switch gear for a hand full of orders. So, they probably dipped into the existing bin.