More bad news for Detroit: Pickup trucks from India will arrive in 2010

The last thing Detroit needs is more competition, but car makers around the world are still looking to follow the Japanese and South Koreans into this market. The Mahindra TR20 and TR40 pickups, built in Nashrik, India, will begin showing up in domestic showrooms as soon as early 2010, according to R.L. Polk & Co. An SUV also from Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd, the Scorpio, is expected to follow late in the year or early in 2011.

The trucks will not be inexpensive, however, with prices starting around $20,000. They will feature turbo diesel engines (the only diesel in this class) that get up to 30 mpg. The two- and four-door models will compete in the compact class with pickups including the Chevy Colorado, Ford Ranger, the Ridgeline, Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. While the Ridgeline retails for $30,000 or more, the other brands are in the same price range as the Mahrinda. However, demand in this market segment has been dropping steadily over the past five years.