The Final Countdown for an Alabama-Mahindra Truck?
This is one of my favorite music knock offs, the Hindi version of Europe’s “The Final Countdown”. My point? If the folks at Mahindra Planet are right, it’s only a matter of time before the Bollywood Music types rip off Skynyrd’s classic, “Sweet Home Alabama.” Which will be pretty awesome, I assure you!
The big box of a building in Muscle Shoals is rumored to be the future home of the Mahindra TR20 and TR40 compact pickups. The truck gurus at Navistar supposedly signed a 10 year lease on the facility this October: could the company that fought Ford tooth and nail take Ford’s compact truck market share once the Ranger officially dies next week?
But let’s not get too excited about our prospects for a pure compact pickup, a stickshift, gutsy Miata with a bed if you will. Nothing’s ever perfect.
If the EPA figures are right, the TR40 is a bit of a buffet slurping Yankee. Considering the price volatility of diesel and the fuel economy of gas trucks, that’s a big problem. And who knows if these rigs have enough engineering prowess to overcome the road/dirt driving dynamics of a Tacoma. It’s same (potential) Achilles’s heel that put the Model T out of production and Chevrolet on the map. Then again, this interior shot suggests the TR isn’t a bad place to do business.
Rear HVAC vents? Not too shabby! Who knows what the future will provide?
Off to you, Best and Brightest.
More by Sajeev Mehta
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Navistar should produce a diesel 4WD pickup and call it the Scout. And a "Scout" version also. I bet it would sell.
The ideal truck for me would be an updated 50s 1/2 ton Chevy or Ford. I6, manual transmission, generally bare bones. Manual windows, Plain cab. Mebbe (definitely) Fly windows instead of AC