M&M's US foray hits roadblock - Times of India

CHENNAI: Mahindra & Mahindra's much-awaited debut in the US with its light pick-up truck, TR40 , has faced a marketing setback with the vehicle fetching American fuel economy rating of 19 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 21 on highways. That's considerably lower than the 30 mpg that the company had reportedly promised its retailers and more or less on a par with established models in the market like the Toyota Tacoma and Ford F 150.

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The fuel economy setback comes nearly a year after M&M's US dealer Global Vehicles took the Indian company to court in Atlanta over what it claimed were delays in the launch of the vehicle. M&M officials said the fuel economy stats look worse due to a new method of calculating the mileage used by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "EPA has certified the Mahindra vehicle as on date for highway fuel economy (for labelling purposes) at 21 mpg, due to the changes in the calculation procedures adopted by EPA for fuel economy label declaration from Model Year-2008 and more recently with 5-cycle method from model year 2011 onwards," said an M&M spokesperson. However, the overall range fares much better. "For the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy), the city fuel economy certified by EPA is 23.6 mpg, whereas highway fuel economy certified is 30.5 mpg," he addedsaid the spokesperson.

M&M's US foray hits roadblock - Times of India