Mahindra has launched the Genio pick-up truck in South Africa. This is the first time the vehicle has been launched in a country outside India. The Genio is a 1.2 tonne pick-up truck based on the Xylo platform with modern equipments leaving the old traditional pick-ups far behind. The company has launched the vehicle in two variants, SC (single cab) and DC (double cab). The SC is a basic model with a cabin seating capacity of two people while the DC features a 5-seater cabin equipped with air-conditioning and other comfort features like tilt-power steering, adjustable seat height, etc.
Powered by a 2.5-litre MDI-CRDe engine, the Mahindra Genio is capabale of producing 75 PS of power with 220 Nm of torque between 1400-2200 RPM. Independent car-like suspension with disc brakes at the front makes the vehicle stable on the highways even at the top speed of 120 km/hr. Mahindra says the engine is tuned in a way that increases life and also costs lower maintenance to the owner. This results in low cost of ownershipship with fuel efficiency being very good too.
The engineers at Mahindra designed the cargo portion in a flat base surface with the wide opening that makes the transfer of goods relatively trouble free. The increasing demand of Mahindra’s vehicle in South Africa has resulted in a network of over 50 dealerships in the country with total sales of more than 18,000 vehicles since 2004. The company is also exporting the well known XUV500, Scorpio and Xylo with the added pick-up version of the Scorpio and Bolero on the offering list in the country as well.
