Mahindra Pik-Up to be axed in Australia two years after the last stock arrived
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Stock of Australia’s third-oldest new vehicle is about to run out two and a half years after the last examples arrived – and it became illegal to import any more.
The Mahindra Pik-Up is finally set to depart Australian showrooms two-and-a-half years after the paperwork needed to import new examples was voided.
Shipments of Mahindra’s cut-price Pik-Up ute to Australia stopped in 2022 as it did not meet then-new side-impact crash protection rules in force for light-commercial vehicles that November.
But it has only now been discovered as the Indian car giant stockpiled so many vehicles it has taken until 2025 to run dealer forecourts dry.
It brings the road to an end for Australia’s third-oldest new vehicle, introduced locally in mid-2007 – months after the current Fiat Ducato van, itself newer than only the 40-year-old Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series.
Mahindra will be left with just one model in production for local showrooms, the XUV700 seven-seat SUV, as the Scorpio 4WD will go on hiatus until it can be upgraded with soon-to-be-mandated autonomous emergency braking (AEB) technology it lacks.
A new Mahindra Pik-Up is in development for launch locally by the middle of 2026, which will meet local regulations in force at the time, the brand said.
It was long presumed the Pik-Up would be axed in 2025 under new regulations known as ADR 98/00 due to its lack of AEB, which slams the brakes if an imminent collision is detected.
It now appears it was never compliant with ADR 85 side-impact rules in 2022, and the car maker stockpiled vehicles at the time rather than investing in structural upgrades.
Vehicles ‘complied’ – meaning given the stamp of approval before registration that they meet Australian standards – before 1 November 2022 have been able to be sold since then.
The LandCruiser 70 Series was set to fall foul of the same rules, but Toyota elected to reclassify it as a medium goods vehicle – the technical term for a light truck – so it could be exempt from the regulations.
Mahindra Australia does not publish sales data for its vehicles independently, or as part of a Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) membership.
The final Pik-Ups to be offered are dual-cab S11 four-wheel-drive versions, listed on the company’s website from $39,990 drive-away.
The AEB mandate has claimed vehicles such as the Mazda 6 and Mitsubishi ASX, while the side-impact standards made the Nissan GT-R, Alpine A110 and other models extinct.
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