Mahindra Lifestyler ute confirmed for New Zealand
Words: Richard Edwards
Mahindra’s new one-tonne ute is coming to New Zealand, the local arm of the Indian brand has confirmed, though buyers will have to wait a little longer for timing.
“It is definitely coming,” a Mahindra New Zealand spokesperson tells NZ Autocar. “We don’t know yet when. We hope to know more in the next couple of weeks.”
Revealed at the firm’s Independence Day event in Mumbai on Friday, the Lifestyler is the production evolution of the Global Pik Up concept shown in Cape Town in 2023. In India it wears Scorpio Lifestyler badging; export markets, including New Zealand and Australia, get the standalone Lifestyler name. It succeeds the Pik-Up, which bowed out of production this year after two decades of service, and squares up against the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.
The newcomer sits on a stretched, updated version of the Scorpio’s ladder-frame platform but is a distinct product rather than an SUV with a tray. Suspension follows segment convention, with double wishbones up front and leaf springs at the rear. Mahindra says it is its first vehicle developed for global markets ahead of its home market, with the company studying how Australians use their utes and South Africans their bakkies before locking in the design, and targeting ANCAP compliance.
Mahindra is chasing serious workhorse credentials. Development targets include 3500kg braked towing, a one-tonne payload and a 6300kg gross combination mass, figures that would put it line-ball with the segment establishment. Those numbers are yet to be locked in, with the vehicles shown so far in pre-production form.
Dr Velusamy R, President of the Automotive Business at Mahindra & Mahindra, says the vision from the outset was “a world-class global pickup that raises the bar for the segment” while staying true to the brand’s strengths in capability and value.
Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO of the Automotive Division at Mahindra & Mahindra, says the ute represents “the convergence of global engineering and evolving customer aspirations”, with buyers wanting genuine capability without giving up technology, safety, comfort or everyday usability.
Three themed editions shown at the reveal signal where Mahindra sees the ute fitting. The Reef edition targets surf and beach life, the Trail edition goes hard on off-roading with a snorkel, side steps and aggressive all-terrain tyres over its Sahara Beige paint, and the Valley edition in Artemis Grey is pitched at farm and lifestyle-block owners wanting one vehicle for work and the weekend.
The design moves well away from the Scorpio SUV. Up front are high-mounted LED headlights with L-shaped running lights and a honeycomb grille above a skid plate carrying Mahindra lettering, with vertical LED tail lights framing a Mahindra wordmark pressed into the tailgate. The cabin lifts the game over the outgoing Pik-Up considerably: a portrait-oriented central touchscreen dominates a new dashboard, joined by a digital driver display, dual-zone climate control, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an electronic park brake and selectable terrain and drive modes.
Power comes from Mahindra’s 2.2-litre mHawk turbodiesel, expected to be tuned to around 130kW and 450Nm for this application, with manual and automatic transmissions in 4×2 and 4×4 configurations. A 2.0-litre turbopetrol exists in the wider family but is unlikely to be offered in this part of the world.
Indian pricing opens below 19.79 lakh rupees, roughly $38,000, with the Hilux there costing nearly double. Local pricing and specification will be confirmed closer to launch.
