Little hope for Mahindra pickup to arrive in U.S.

There is officially no distributor for the Mahindra pickup, so it will not likely come to the U.S. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The drama continues in the ongoing fracas concerning the Mahindra Pik-Up, a diesel-powered small truck that is sold in numerous countries worldwide. The little truck has been subject of much contention, but since it has no distributor, it isn’t likely coming to the U.S.

Yet another blow

There is a small cadre of people who prefer light pickups to full size because they are cheaper to buy, drive and provide a towing and hauling capacity that is more realistic for the average person, who rarely need a full-size pickup. There are few household items that cannot be hauled, in other words, by a Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma; not everyone wants to spend more than $40,000 on a half or three-quarter ton truck that gets less than 15 miles per gallon.

For that reason, a good deal of buzz was generated several years ago by the announcement that Mahindra, an Indian company that’s been selling farm equipment in the U.S., as well as internationally, was going to bring its small diesel-powered pickup truck to the U.S. A distributor, Global Vehicles, was lined up to sell them. However, according to AutoBlog, it is all but over at this point.

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Distribution arrangement scuttled

As of 2009, a company called Global Vehicles had an agreement with Mahindra to sell the trucks, which were dubbed the T20 and T40, signifying two or four-door models, through a network of up to 350 dealerships, according to the Chicago Tribune. All that was needed was modifications to meet crash safety and EPA regulations.

However, the deal stalled, and by 2010, both sides were accusing the other of breaking the agreement, so Global Vehicles sought arbitration through a British court. The arbitration ruling, according to AutoBlog, has just been issued, finding that Global Vehicles had violated the agreement.

Global Vehicles also sued in a federal court in Atlanta, according to the New York Times, but the case was thrown out because it was in arbitration in Britain.

Few small trucks to choose

The Mahindra T40, the four-door model with four-wheel drive and automatic transmission, was EPA rated at 19 miles per gallon city, 21 highway, according to PickupTrucks, the truck-based companion site to Cars.com. Granted, that isn’t fantastic for a diesel, but isn’t bad for a truck for starters and definitely for a four-wheel drive crew cab. A price wasn’t available, but it would have come in well under $30,000.

Because the Ford Ranger is no more, there are five available pickups that aren’t full-size. Only two achieve 21 miles per gallon highway or better for the four-door model with four-wheel drive and an automatic transmission, those being the Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon. Though they are nearly the same truck, the Canyon gets better gas mileage, achieving 17 mpg city, 23 highway. The Colorado gets 16 city, 21 highway.