Global Vehicles John Perez Responds to Lack of EPA Application

Posted today on Mahindra Truck Forum, GV president John Perez, spoke via telephone with the forum’s administrator, Andy Isaacson, to discuss and respond to the PickupTrucks.com article revealing that Mahindra had not yet applied for EPA certification required to sell the Indian-built pickup trucks in the US. All responses on various subjects are quoted from the forum post.

EPA certification
“Just got off the phone with John Perez, the president of Global Vehicles. It was a good conversation. He re-affirmed that they are not delayed from their mid to late spring release. The EPA Certification is the last thing on the list after all the testing and hard work has been done. He said that there are Mahindra pickups all over the US, testing, testing, testing in every condition possible. That has been the reason for some of the delays because Mahindra wants to make sure that nothing goes wrong when they actually sell them here. EPA Certification is just around the corner which means that so are the trucks.”

Warranty and Pricing
“As far as warranty goes, that is still not 100% decided. As far as pricing goes, they are expecting that they will not make any money on the sales of the initial Indian made Mahindra trucks due to the chicken tax. However, wether made in India or the US, they plan on pricing the vehicle to be as affordable as possible to the consumer. It does not sound like they are planning a sudden price drop on the US made ones.”

Parts Supply to the US
“For parts, Mahindra will be using a separate company that specializes in parts distribution that already has warehouses all over the US. It's what this company does best and they will be able to get parts to the dealers quickly.”

Dealer Service
“Similar to the parts, the tech training will also be handled by a separate company that specializes in training technicians all over the US.”

The complete post can be found here: Mahindra Truck Forum: EPA Certification

Bombshell! Mahindra Has Not Applied for EPA Certs, Delays Likely?

PickupTrucks.com broke news yesterday that Mahindra has still not applied for US Environmental Protection Agency certification. The certification is required for Mahindra to prove that they meet all federal emissions requirements in order to sell the TR20 and TR40 pickups in the United States.

US launch of the Indian-made diesel pickup trucks have been delayed several times over the last two years. Could this cause further delays in availability at the 300+ dealers that have been established around the country?

As of late yesterday, dealers had not received any statements from Mahindra truck importer, Global Vehicles, regarding this news. The level of disappointment in the US Mahindra truck fan community is significant to say the least.

Previous statements from Global Vehicles indicated that Mahindra trucks would receive EPA and NHTSA approvals in the first quarter of 2010.

We will update as we learn more…

Source: PickupTrucks.com

Bootleggers Choice: Mahindra Pickups!

Last week Indian police caught two individuals attempting to illegally transport IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) from Haryana to Jaipur (around 150 miles) after a police chase involving officers from three police stations.

The two suspects taken into custody were driving a Maruti (Indian Suzuki) while another two individuals got away after escaping the chase and abandoning their Mahindra pickup.

The suspects avoided police barricades and attempted to create their own road blocks by tossing the illicit booze onto the roadway in hopes of stopping traffic. Needless to say the Mahindra was the better vehicle for evading police, not that Mahindra Planet condones such behavior.

It does leave one to wonder if Mahindra’s original working name for the TR20 and TR40 pickups, Appalachian, was intended to appeal to American moonshiners or bootleggers of the southeastern United States.

Source: Times of India (complete news article)