M&M"s Humvee
If there's one thing that can be commended about the people in India it's their remarkable talent in searching for replacements. Take for instance the case of the Hummer. Ankush Arora GM's India Vice-President has recently stated that the automaker has no plans to launch its Hummer in India. Aurora said, "We have no plans to get the Hummer in India and we are concentrating on developing the Chevrolet brand."
Despite such sad announcement from the producer of quality Saab brake pads [http://www.swedishoemparts.com/saabbrakepads.html], General Motors, India will still get its Hummer but not the one from GM but from M&M short for Mahindra & Mahindra. The Indian version of the Hummer will be called Humvee or high mobility multipurpose-wheeled vehicle but it will be sold under the brand name Mahindra Axe.
According to some reliable sources the M&M has already started the testing of the Humvee at the Faridabad. You may not know this, but the Humvee is much older than GM's Hummer. American Motors has started building the Humvee in the 80s while Hummer was developed in the 90s and became part of GM's brands in the year 1998.
There are already various variants of the Humvee being sold in the world over like for instance the Greek and Russian Kornet or the Toyota-crafted Megacruiser unfortunately no Humvee is distributed in the subcontinent.
Originally the Humvees that were previously launched only produced 150 horsepower but according to some source the Humvee that M&M will offer possess a 300-400 HP engine. Unfortunately, this news is still unconfirmed since M&M executives has chosen not to divulge any info on the Humvee instead Mahindra Defense Systems CEO Khutub A Hai said, "We have designed a vehicle called the Mahindra Axe for the Indian Army as per their specifications. In due course, we will look at homologating it and getting a civilian variant of this high-powered vehicle. This is an IPR of M&M and even the engine is indigenously developed. Two prototypes have been developed for Army testing."
Sources also said that the new Mahindra Axe will be offered in both open and hard-top versions capable of mounting artillery. The M&M Humvee has been developed by a team of designers including some from abroad. Mr. Hai also said, "We have also imported some components from abroad."
And that's not all, according to auto analyst Murad Ali Baig the M&M will also venture into the semi-amphibian Humvee. He said, "Yes, Mahindra's plans for a vehicle like the Humvee are on track. I believe they will look at developing a softer variant for civilian purposes. This kind of a vehicle is very heavy, consumes a large amount of fuel and is largely for off-road applications. It will have a very niche market when launched."
With regards to price the Axe basic model will have a tag price of $60,000 which can reach a jaw-dropping $1,500,000 for some of the specialty versions.
Despite such sad announcement from the producer of quality Saab brake pads [http://www.swedishoemparts.com/saabbrakepads.html], General Motors, India will still get its Hummer but not the one from GM but from M&M short for Mahindra & Mahindra. The Indian version of the Hummer will be called Humvee or high mobility multipurpose-wheeled vehicle but it will be sold under the brand name Mahindra Axe.
According to some reliable sources the M&M has already started the testing of the Humvee at the Faridabad. You may not know this, but the Humvee is much older than GM's Hummer. American Motors has started building the Humvee in the 80s while Hummer was developed in the 90s and became part of GM's brands in the year 1998.
There are already various variants of the Humvee being sold in the world over like for instance the Greek and Russian Kornet or the Toyota-crafted Megacruiser unfortunately no Humvee is distributed in the subcontinent.
Originally the Humvees that were previously launched only produced 150 horsepower but according to some source the Humvee that M&M will offer possess a 300-400 HP engine. Unfortunately, this news is still unconfirmed since M&M executives has chosen not to divulge any info on the Humvee instead Mahindra Defense Systems CEO Khutub A Hai said, "We have designed a vehicle called the Mahindra Axe for the Indian Army as per their specifications. In due course, we will look at homologating it and getting a civilian variant of this high-powered vehicle. This is an IPR of M&M and even the engine is indigenously developed. Two prototypes have been developed for Army testing."
Sources also said that the new Mahindra Axe will be offered in both open and hard-top versions capable of mounting artillery. The M&M Humvee has been developed by a team of designers including some from abroad. Mr. Hai also said, "We have also imported some components from abroad."
And that's not all, according to auto analyst Murad Ali Baig the M&M will also venture into the semi-amphibian Humvee. He said, "Yes, Mahindra's plans for a vehicle like the Humvee are on track. I believe they will look at developing a softer variant for civilian purposes. This kind of a vehicle is very heavy, consumes a large amount of fuel and is largely for off-road applications. It will have a very niche market when launched."
With regards to price the Axe basic model will have a tag price of $60,000 which can reach a jaw-dropping $1,500,000 for some of the specialty versions.
