Indian vehicle maker Mahindra is looking for a way to avoid import taxes when it puts its pickup truck and Scorpio sport utility on the U.S. market sometime in 2010, so it's no surprise that Automotive News is reporting that the manufacturer is on the hunt for a stateside assembly location. It's the same reason why there are Honda and Toyota plants here, and Mahindra is no stranger to selling vehicles in our market – or assembling them here, for that matter.
Already well established selling tractors to American farmers, Mahindra has three U.S. plants for its agricultural products already. Looking at how Mahindra has stretched out to many different regions and markets, there's little doubt that assembling pickup trucks here in the U.S. from knock-down kits is going to be easy, as they're already doing the same thing in Egypt and Brazil, for example.
The U.S. market has precious few true small pickup offerings left, the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma and the Chevrolet Colorado/ GMC Canyon twins are about all there is, and there may be untapped potential for a well-priced truck, particularly one with a diesel engine. That's what Mahindra is banking on, as it is apparently planning to make the United States one of its largest export markets.
[Source: Automotive News - sub req]
Already well established selling tractors to American farmers, Mahindra has three U.S. plants for its agricultural products already. Looking at how Mahindra has stretched out to many different regions and markets, there's little doubt that assembling pickup trucks here in the U.S. from knock-down kits is going to be easy, as they're already doing the same thing in Egypt and Brazil, for example.
The U.S. market has precious few true small pickup offerings left, the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma and the Chevrolet Colorado/ GMC Canyon twins are about all there is, and there may be untapped potential for a well-priced truck, particularly one with a diesel engine. That's what Mahindra is banking on, as it is apparently planning to make the United States one of its largest export markets.
[Source: Automotive News - sub req]
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