Scorpio

The Getaway was first launched just over a year ago in South Africa where pick-ups sell like hot cookies. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) thinks this double-cab derivative of the Scorpio could find takers in India as well and is now available in a showroom near you. Should you rush to your nearest Mahindra dealership? Read on. If you find a Getaway in your rearview mirror, you'll mistake it for another Scorpio. It is only when the vehicle pulls up beside you that you will discover the vehicle now has a rear deck. This has added to the Getaway's length. It measures 5098mm, as against the Scorpio's 4495mm.

Yes, the Getaway is a pick-up. A crew-cab pick-up, which means it can seat a family of five, plus carry 600kg in the deck behind. Now when you mention a pick-up in India, the first images that come to mind is the Tatamobile and the Mahindra pickups. While the Tatamobile did have some pretensions of being a lifestyle vehicle, the Mahindra pick-ups are strictly utilitarian. M&M has placed its bets on the Scorpio Getaway to create a market for pick-ups in India. After all, in America, Ford sold slightly more than 900,000 F-Series full-size pick-up trucks in 2005, while Chevrolet moved more than 700,000 Silverados. Interestingly, in neighbouring Thailand, pick-ups account for nearly 60 per cent of the market! While the Indian market is not as matured as the US of A, does the new Mahindra have what it takes ' to carve out a new segment? Let's take a closer look.

The Scorpio, launched in 2002 a handsome vehicle. You can quibble over some of its design details, but you can't fault the butch lines and dimensions of the car. Now that M&M has lopped off the rear-most box of the Scorpio, attached a platform on the rear, given it nifty roll-bars and plastered on some stickers, the car has taken on a different demeanour. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Let's put it this way - if you have to wear a suit and tie, stay out of this vehicle unless you want to look foolish. On the other hand, you can drive it to a five-star hotel and you'll get appreciative nods From the parking valets, and that we say from experience.

Look inside the Getaway and you will almost think that you are inside the Scorpio, apart from some cosmetic changes. Like the Scorpio, the front seats area bit short on support. The circular vents are completly useless in directing airflow. And, as in the Scorpio, the compressor on/off switches are too small Yet, it isn't a Scorpio. The fact reasserts itself when you sit on the rear seats. The backrest is more vertical isn't good. The bad news continues When you look beyond the second row. Mounted flush behind the second is the rear windscreen.. there is no parcel shelf, no space even to slip in a slim bag. If there are five passengers in the cabin, the bags have to go in the deck behind. Yes, the deck is big enough for a dozen suitcases, but it's open and unsecured. So if you are looking at taking your family along for a shopping spree, designate someone to stand guard when the Getaway is parked. And pray it doesn't rain.

On the other hand, if you want to carry bags of fertilizers to your farmhouse, or transport your water scooter down to the beach, the rear deck is just what you'd want. Moreover, M&M has thoughtfully provided hooks on the side of the deck to help you lash the load down.

The Getaway is powered by the same four-cylinder, 2609cc inter-cooled, common-rail turbo-diesel engine that does service in the Scorpio. This refined piece world-class engineering gives even the Toyota Innova a run for its money. The only difference is that the engine now has to work harder to lug the 140kg heavier Getaway. Generating 115bhp at 380Orpm, the Getaway hits the 100kph mark nearly four seconds later than the Scorpio. The eager punchy response of the CRDe engine has been dulled by the added weight. The shorter second and third gears on the Getaway too cannot help recapture the Scorpio magic. The other victim of the Getaway's weight has been its fuel economy. While the Scorpio returns 9.6kpl in the city and 13.0 on the highway, you can expect around 8.5kpl and 11.5kpl with the Getaway. Thankfully, it drinks diesel.

The Scorpio's Achille's heel has been its handling. Last year the Smirpio got a new coil spring rear pension that somewhat improved M road manners and the bouncy side which had plagued the earlier Scarpios. The Getaway reverts to the semi-elliptical leaf springs in the rear. Vie this improves the load-carrying capacity, and you can carry 600kg on the rear deck, it does so at the use of rear seat comfort.

The rear seat is bumpy and you feel that the Getaway is traveling through choppy seas. The front suspension is a double wishbone with torsion bar and it feels stiffer with a marginal improvement in the steering. On the other hand, the stiffer set-up means that the Getaway transfers every bump on the road into the cabin.

Now while the Getaway is not the most comfortable vehicle on the expressway, it's a different matter when the earth under your wheels has not bean tamed by smooth asphalt. Bad roads or no roads, the Getaway feels indestructible. It just wafts over everything on its 16-inch wheels that smoother the terrain into submission. And when the going gets rougher, there is always the 4WD option. Just the ideal vehicle to have when you want to take the road not taken. And arrive on the other side looking cool and unruffled like Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones.

Okay time to tally the score. Scorpio versus the Getaway versus others. Competition from other vehicles? What competition? Mahindra's own Bolero Pik-up? Now if you pit it against the Scorpio, the truth is this - the Scorpio is quicker and faster, rides better and is a more practical city commuter. Yet the Scorpio doesn't win. Surprised? The reason is actually simple. T
The Getaway is not a Scorpio. Though it shares the same front profile and engine, it's a different vehicle. Targeted at a different kind of customer. Who lives his life outdoors braving nature and the elements. Yet necessarily doesn't want to get his shoes muddy or break into a sweat. Think gentlemen farmers. Think people who drive down to their farmhouses over the weekends. Or outdoor sportsmen like paragliders who take off with their equipment in search of the perfect thermal. Or whitewater rafters. Or people who want to pretend they are one of the above. You get the idea?

Here's the interesting part. According to some reports, the Getaway is slated to enter the tough American market in 2009o It's not going to be exactly the same vehicle we are reviewing here. While it's basically going to still be the same engine configuration, Bosch and AVL will be working to make it compliant to US regulations. The pick-up will sport a Tiptronic automatic transmission. The suspension that we have rubbished here will be changed and the US version will sport an independent front suspension. Now that should give you an idea of the features you can expect M&M to offer Indian customers in the coming years.

Is M&M biting off more than it can chew by dreaming of entering the toughest auto market in the world? Before you write it off, consider this fact. In 1959 another small, Asian-based company started selling a Japanese-sourced 37bhp pick-up called 'Datsun 1000'. The same company now sells tens of thousands of pick-ups in America. The company is today known as Nissan. Will M&M repeat Nissan's success? Only time will tell.