Xlyo Pickup?

This is an interesting concept drawing by Indian designer Shoeb Kalania of SRK Design. He’s taken the people-mover Mahindra Xylo and crafted a pickup out of it: ala Subaru Baja.

It’s certain that the Xylo would never make it to the US market, but Kalania’s Xylo Adventure is still an interesting concept and it shows the potential in another of Mahindra’s vehicles.

Source: IndiaAutosBlog

Mahindra TR20 and TR40: Invoking Visions of Roaming Far Off Places Or Working In The Backyard?

News over the weekend of Mahindra’s possible naming convention for its North American line of pickups came as a bit of a shock.

For a company who has set its sites on the lofty target of Land Rover, the TR20 and TR40 names for the 2-door and 4-door versions of the pickup seem like a cop out. Mahindra’s rival, Tata Motors, has managed a seamless transition of the Land Rover brand from Ford to their India-based company. Ford took the rugged off-road foundation Land Rover had built over many decades and elevated it to the epitome of luxury SUV’s.

Mahindra wants their trucks to be considered in the same vein as Land Rover, but they seem to be off to a slow start in some respects. It’s well known that Mahindra has spent considerable effort to ensure the quality of the pickups will more than satisfy US customers, which is fantastic. However, the styling of the pickup is controversial to say the least. A lame alpha-numeric designation like TR20 or TR40 does not produce visions of safaris in the Serengeti, or crawling the Rubicon. Frankly, TR20 creates visions of mowing the lawn or trimming hedges.

These seem like nonsense names, better suited to a lawn tractor or a weed whacker. We can assume that the TR somehow stands for truck. Certainly imaginative Americans will come up with a more creative interpretation for these initials.

With the exception of Ford, every other pickup truck sold in the US has a name, or a combination of name and numeric designation that stands for its intended carrying capacity. Ford relies purely on the ‘F’ designation and a number signifying capacity (i.e. F-150 = Ford half-ton pickup). They can do this because they have a massive history and changing this designation would be considered heresy to Ford fanatics. You don’t want to upset the faithful.

Mahindra needs to look long and hard at how they intend to portray this truck now and into the future. If they intend to be a long term player in the US market, now is the time to create a legacy for the brand. Do they want to be seen as a high-end SUV maker, or a rugged and earthy truck manufacturer? Either way Mahindra should select a name, or chose a letter/number designation that means something useful. If you tell someone you proudly own a Mahindra Appalachian 2500, it tells a story. If you tell someone you own a Mahindra TR20, will that person ask what size mowing deck it has?

You can do better, Mahindra.

Source: Autoblog

Mahindra Trucks Coming to America: Indian Style

Mahindra’s agriculturally influenced styling is an honest reflection of its tractor expertise. Some see the beauty in a vehicle which has clearly been designed with function as the top priority. Mahindra’s farm implement roots are well represented in the style of the Mahindra Pik-Up and Scorpio SUV. Sharp-edged lines of the cab and SUV bodies abruptly transition into a rounded nose fitted with composite headlamps. The style is… unique. The combination manifests itself as somewhat of an odd historical timeline of Japanese mini-trucks from the late-1970’s to the mid-1990’s. It’s been a long time since American’s have seen external tie-down cleats on a truck box.

The question for Mahindra is: Will the current styling for Mahindra trucks translate into sufficient US vehicle sales?

The trucks are unique and certainly carve a niche, but as noted in a previous post, Mahindra will likely be faced with absorbing the Chicken Tax into their North American operations in some way. If that cost has to be passed on to consumers through an increase in vehicle price, Mahindra must acknowledge that they have reduced their niche further than previously anticipated.

Styling is a key element in an American culture that has come to expect a high level of style in even the lowest priced products. As seen in the lead photo, Mahindra has launched a facelift for the Scorpio this year (photos at www.cubiccapacity.com). This alone is probably not enough to change many initial American impressions. In another previous post, Mahindra Planet noted that Mahindra does plan a completely new Scorpio design for 2010, but it seems that the current pick up will come to the US as it is.

There are glimpses of amazing automotive design coming out of India (do a Google search!). International companies like GM and Renault have design centers based there. Unfortunately the Pik-Up and Scorpio do a bit of a disservice to the Indian auto design community. While these vehicles are a testament to the world market aspirations of Mahindra and the Indian auto industry, it is not putting their best foot forward in design and styling.

First impressions will mean a lot to Mahindra. If the trucks offer exceptional performance and value for their price, many will likely accept the styling as it is, but it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. To grow their US market share, Mahindra will not only need to deliver on quality, service, and performance, they will also have to create a signature design direction and further develop styling that stands out in the US landscape.