A little background on Mahindra and the Scorpio hybrid SUV

We got a close-up look at Mahindra and Mahindra's Scorpio hybrid SUV at the SAE Congress in April. If you're interested in the company and just why and how an Indian hybrid jumped off of the sketchpad and is now poised to enter the U.S. market in 2010, spend some time over at BusinessWorld. Designed by a young rookie engineer back in 1996, the SUV helped rebrand Mahindra and Mahindra into a company that wants to be a major automaker. Automotive News' Lindsay Chappell said bringing the four-cylinder diesel vehicles to the U.S. is a gamble, but there is a "growing curiosity here about small-displacement diesels. There are none here.'' We'll see the first results of how that gamble play out when the non-hybrid conventional 2.2L turbodiesel Scorpio precedes the hybrid in 2009. BusinessWorld says that M&M "expects the Scorpio's fuel-efficient and low-emission engine to win over customers who feel guilty about driving gas-guzzling automobiles, yet want the size and performance of an SUV." Does the Scorpio appeal to you?