[Ksingh544]

[quote=4x4addict;5607761]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.


My family were Force/ Bajaj Tempo dealers for almost 30 years for the state of J&K, till 2008. We have a long history of dealing with them and while they have made a lot of improvements as a company, its a case of 2 steps forward and 4 behind.
In 1999-2000 at the peak of its popularity and sales, they discontinued the Matador van and replaced it with the failed Tempo Excel which has a suspension issue as a manufacturing defect.
Immediately ceding the advantage to the Tata 407, which flooded the J&K market as a peoples and good carries.
When the Gurkha was launched in 2021, they really reached out to early customers and helped them out. Listened to the issues being faced and kept rolling out updates.
But unfortunately did nothing of consequence for the marketing, brand building or community development.
The Gurkha is a technically well built vehicle but no prospective customer is ever going to know that because their communication and marketing is so poor.
And that is where Mahindra has cashed into this gap in the market and has Thar variant in every possible combination - diesel/ petrol/ hardtop/ convertible/ 2WD/4WD you name it.

As a Marketer and Strategy consultant myself, Force should relaunch the 2023 Gurkha with proper marketing this Diwali.
Build brand awareness and customer knowledge, its not enough to keep reposting user generated content which is mostly Delhi NCR, Himachal and Punjab lads shooting reels in Ladakh to terrible Bollywood sound tracks.

This vehicle has its history and heritage steeped in Mercedes engineering, that should be brought to the forefront of all communication.

[Shekhar Rao]

Hi everyone
Wanted to give a brief update after 19250kms on my BS6 Gurkha Nemo.
It is running fine. The engine has become smoother and even more vibration free.
Power delivery is linear and quite adequate for most purposes.
There has been no issue of leakage. The drivers side airbag light kept on all the time and was fixed at the time of service. The front hubs needed greasing as determined by the service advisor and I feel it is rolling more freely now.It feels good to see Nemo everytime and you feel like going places in it. A regular commute to work becomes entertaining thanks to Nemo!

[Shekhar Rao]

Hi
2 pictures of Nemo from a similar angle

[rahul4321]

Saw the 5 door version of the Force Gurkha on the latest video of Itchy Boots between 9.05 second and 9.10 seconds.

The back is visible clearly. The side- only for a fleeting moment or so. Looked good and proportionate.

[Ksingh544]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Saw the 5 door version of the Force Gurkha on the latest video of Itchy Boots between 9.05 second and 9.10 seconds.

The back is visible clearly. The side- only for a fleeting moment or so. Looked good and proportionate.

are you referring to the grey colored vehicle parked behind the bike? that seems to be a 3 Door version, cant see any rear doors on the sides.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Saw the 5 door version of the Force Gurkha on the latest video of Itchy Boots between 9.05 second and 9.10 seconds.

The back is visible clearly. The side- only for a fleeting moment or so. Looked good and proportionate.

It's a 3 door Gurkha used by the Ladakh police. The POLICE stickering is visible on the rear glass.

[sanemate]

One can see the 4-door Gurkha pick up here in an pic from 2 months back. Will the 5-door be as long as this or shorter?

https://twitter.com/SWComd_IA/status...948545/photo/4

[ThatBalenoGuy]

No, the 5 door will be shorter than the cruiser based 4 door pickup

[FourX4]

We have been hearing about the launch of 3 door gurkha with new engine for so long but no credible news of it coming. Anybody has any updates. There is no buzz about this machine anymore.

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by FourX4

We have been hearing about the launch of 3 door gurkha with new engine for so long but no credible news of it coming. Anybody has any updates. There is no buzz about this machine anymore.

I too have been wondering about the lack of buzz surrounding the launch of the 2023 upgrade of the 3 door Force Gurkha. In fact there isn't even any buzz about the 5 door version that was slated to be launched during the festive season.

Dusshera is over and Diwali is a only few days away but except for some reposts on Instagram by Force Motors nothing to indicate that any launch is in the offing.

Maybe Force Motor's PR/Marketing teams are pioneering a launch by stealth. We'll suddenly see Gurkhas on the road.

[Mr.Fawlty]

Originally Posted by Zezé

I too have been wondering about the lack of buzz surrounding the launch of the 2023 upgrade of the 3 door Force Gurkha. In fact there isn't even any buzz about the 5 door version that was slated to be launched during the festive season.

The radio silence is worrying. Sure the Gurkha probably doesn't need to compete with anything in the market, and Force's position could be that those who want a Gurkha will buy one regardless of timelines and budget constraint. The local dealership is largely clueless. May be development isn't going well?

On another note, I was checking out the Urbania. Rather handsome, and well put together. Apparently it comes with ESP as option. Don't suppose the previous gen Gurkhas were ESP equipped(?) Wonder what are the chances of it making it to the new one...

[shrvenkataraman]

Seems like they won't be relaunching Gurkha and are mostly shelving the Gurkha sales?

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by shrvenkataraman

Seems like they won't be relaunching Gurkha and are mostly shelving the Gurkha sales?

As someone on this forum mentioned in a different thread, for Force Motors the manufacturing the Gurkha is side business, with the moolah coming from the sales of commercial vehicles. With the Jimny turning out to be a marketing flop, there's no pressure to prioritise the relaunch of the Gurkha.

[Mr.Fawlty]

Originally Posted by shrvenkataraman

Seems like they won't be relaunching Gurkha and are mostly shelving the Gurkha sales?

And that would be quite a shame. Personally, with both the Thar and the Jimny falling short in their own ways to check all the right boxes for my use case, I had been tracking the Gurkha 6.2 developments anxiously; was expecting a mid-2023 launch so that the first lot kinks could get sorted out for a Q1 2024 purchase. Finally, giving up on it, booked a Scorpio N Z8 D M 4x4 - with its ridiculous waiting period, and not so desirable 'features' in the variant of choice - and was still secretly hoping the Gurkha made it sooner.

[Zezé]

Originally Posted by Mr.Fawlty

And that would be quite a shame. Personally, with both the Thar and the Jimny falling short in their own ways to check all the right boxes for my use case, I had been tracking the Gurkha 6.2 developments anxiously; was expecting a mid-2023 launch so that the first lot kinks could get sorted out for a Q1 2024 purchase. Finally, giving up on it, booked a Scorpio N Z8 D M 4x4 - with its ridiculous waiting period, and not so desirable 'features' in the variant of choice - and was still secretly hoping the Gurkha made it sooner.

I'm in a similar quandary. With the Thar ruled out for a number of reasons, I had pinned my hopes on the Jimny.

But one look at the interiors of the Jumny and my wife pronounced her verdict that a Wagon R was more spacious.

By then the Gurkha was out of production and I'm not keen on a used 4x4. Guess I'll wait a couple of months and take a call about another 4x4.