Autoblog

India's Mahindra & Mahindra may have lost its bid for Jaguar and Land Rover, but the manufacturer of industrial and agricultural vehicles has its sights set on expansion, and that means teaming up with a larger automaker.

In order to reach the markets that matter, M&M may be looking to forge an alliance with Chrysler LLC. The Indian firm originally began selling Wranglers in its home market and might be interested in taking Jeep off Cerberus' hands. A report in the Economic Times says that "M&M is reportedly in talks with Chrysler for its iconic Jeep brand" although there's no confirmation that Chrysler is looking to offload the brand – yet.

Could Cerberus finally be looking to begin selling off parts of the Chrysler trifecta as many industry analysts have predicted? It certainly isn't out of the question considering the private equity firm's history. And where does the upcoming M&M Appalachian diesel pickup fit into this equation? The Indian automaker is adamant that it will begin selling its own diesel pickup in the U.S. next year, as well as a diesel hybrid version one year later. If this somewhat far fetched rumor of Jeep being sold to M&M turns out to be true, perhaps we'll see Jeep-branded diesel pickups in the U.S. before the decade is done.

[Source: Economic Times]