Mahindra to sell first Indian-made vehicle in US: report

Auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra is set to become the first company to sell an Indian-made vehicle in the US market, a report said Friday.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra's auto and farm-equipment operations, said the company would launch a compact diesel pickup truck in the United States by the end of the year .

The 2.2-litre, four-cylinder vehicle will be assembled in India before being exported and is being promoted as a "no-nonsense" truck for work and play, Goenka said.

He added that the model had been road-tested in line with US government requirements and should be certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency no later than July.

The truck is currently sold in Europe, Africa and South America.

For the first four months of this year, US sales of small pickups have been flat, but Mahindra expects growth in the compact-truck segment from 240,000 sold last year to at least 300,000 by 2011.

Goenka said Mahindra expected to capture between five and seven percent of the market in its first year of full production.

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