It’s been a good while since I checked in to see what was going on in the world of inexpensive and tiny Indian vans and trucks. These are a category of vehicle that I have profound respect for, because they may have the greatest ratio of price:usefulness and the least amount of bullshit of almost any vehicles on the planet. A long time ago back at the Old Site I went out to India to drive many things, including one of these kinds of little vans, a Mahindra Maxximo. Alarmingly, that was ten years ago! So let’s take a look at what sort of little workhorse vans Mahindra offers today: the Mahindra Jeeto.
As I describe this little van to you here and wax on about how something like this should be a viable transportation option here in America, I know for many of you the tiny size and low power might make you assume that this thing is some sort of fragile toy. That would be a mistake. Based on my experience driving the Maxximo and other Indian vehicles and seeing the way these machines are used, abused, wildly overloaded, and the conditions of their mechanical lives, I can very confidently tell you that, in my experience, Indian vehicles are decidedly Not Crap. At all. They’re tough as hell, are designed knowing they’ll be constantly pushed past their limits, and, as one Indian engineer explained to me, will likely be serviced by “a guy with a hammer standing in a hole.”
So, with that endorsement in mind, let’s look at what a modern, tiny Indian van is like. This Mahindra is one of the cheaper ones – it costs ₹3.56 lakh, where a lakh is 100,000 rupees, so that comes to right about $4,291 in American freedombucks. Sure, the old $2,500-ish Tata Nano is no more, but dirt-cheap brand-new Indian cars do still exist. So what do you get for your $4,300, which is, it’s worth noting, about 1/4 the cost of the cheapest cars you can get in America today, which start at about $16,000.
You don’t get a lot of power: the one-cylinder 625cc motor only makes 16 horsepower, but it does make 28 foot-pounds of torque, at least. I’m also pretty sure this thing doesn’t weigh all that much, so my guess is that it won’t feel all that slow. Of course, keep in mind I’m used to low-hp cars and have used a 1.1 hp vehicle extensively, so my brain may be irretrievably altered. Or damaged.
This thing is said to get about 61 mpg, so that’s the other plus of a tiny diesel engine.
I think the look of the Jeeto is an improvement on the Maxximo, especially the front end, with a face that has given up the absurd pretense of looking aggressive and now looks friendly and willing, a much better visage for a small, useful van.
The overall proportions are much improved as well, with much less front overhang and a better relation to the small wheels. The Maxximo had a more cab-over seating position, where the Jeeto pushes the front seats back just behind the front axle, I assume for safety reasons. They’re both still rear-engine/rear drive designs, and both incorporate the cost-saving yet somehow appealing feature of plastic/canvas roll-up side and rear windows. The Jeeto design overall feels much more appealing and attractive. Comparing these two little vans is a great example of how much a design can be changed and improved on the same basic platform design.
The rear doors are now conventional swing-out doors instead of a sliding door, making for a more car-like experience, and the interior, while clearly pretty austere, I’m sure is comfortable enough. It seats five, and it looks like there’s even a jump seat option:
There’s cargo room behind that back seat, and I think there’s ways to fold or remove that rear seat as well, which would give a lot of cargo room. Plus, the rear has a swing-down tailgate design, which, combined with that roll-up rear window, would likely be good for hauling odd-shaped and tall things, like a taxidermied ostrich or a lawnmower or something.
I get that these aren’t remotely as safe as mainstream cars. I know. And the top speed of this thing is likely, oh, maybe 45 to 50 mph or so. It’s not a highway cruiser, of course. But, for a lot of people, something like this could handle the vast majority of their daily driving needs, while being cheap to run and maintain and repair and all that. Plus, there’s a lot of people right now, especially in more rural areas, discovering the joys of Kei-class tiny Japanese trucks and vans and learning how they can do so many jobs that you just don’t need a huge full-sized pickup truck to do. And all of those have to be 25 years old, legally. And those can often cost lots more than $4,300.
So why shouldn’t there be some options for new useful little workhorse vans? A cheap and rugged little work commuter or farm vehicle category could be great! Maybe they can’t go on highways, and are limited to 45 mph, and you get a stern lecture about how unsafe they can be and they show you some scary driver’s ed-style car crash films before you can buy one?
Cars are absurdly expensive now. Both to buy and to maintain, generally. A 61 mpg cheap-as-dirt little van that gets your ass to and from work and runs you on errands and you can take it on the backroads to go camping or whatever feels like a pretty good thing to me.
The chances of this making it to America like this are just a bit better than manticores becoming the new most popular pet in America, so I can’t in good faith counsel breath-holding. But I can dream these humble little cheap car dreams.
Sure. If your objective was to undo 60 years of emissions standards and also kill a shitload of people with literal death traps.
Oops, addendum.
60 years of emissions AND 60 years of seat belts because these things don’t have them.
This thing isn’t even road legal in India.
Sure, these could easily be daily drivers here in the US the same way that riding on top of a train car could be a valid form of public transportation.
That is how many people get around in India… but you probably already knew that.
“ Could Easily Be A Daily Driver For Lots Of Americans”
… if Americans didn’t have egos and federal crash test standards.
Tiny Diesel FTW!
On YouTube there’s a guy repowering a Renault 10 with a garbage Predator 670 V-twin from Harbor Freight. It’s good for about 25 horsepower.
It also does over 60mph. Over – barely. But over. That’s a real car making real speed. Frankly, I think we should reexamine what constitutes “fast,” anything faster than I can achieve in a dead sprint qualifies as fast in my opinion, because I can’t do a dead sprint for more than about 50 yards before a ventricle explodes. So this little Jeeto, a repowered French pensioner-age car, all could qualify as real transportation for regular people, especially if you’re like me, living in a city where the buses just don’t go.
I’m all for little runabouts. This is what they’re for.
Robot Cantina (the guy’s channel) is low key hilarious. His delivery is what makes it.
Mini truck guy here. I, too, wish we had choices like these available to us.
I find it hypocritically hilarious that I live in a state that bans Kei car registration because they’re too dangerous, but is perfectly fine with motorcycles and riding them without a helmet and wearing shorts and flip flops. It’s also perfectly fine with people driving golf carts everywhere with no restraint systems, heck, no doors! I guess they’re not dangerous and, you know, freedom.
The argument always is “freedom.” OK, if that’s the case, why am I forced to drive a car with seatbelts, airbags, and backup cameras? Where’s my freedom? Why am I forced to purchase things I don’t want in a vehicle just so somebody else who does want them can pay less for them? Why is the government (and yes, I realize it’s the collective us) more afraid of me dying than I am? Because some company is afraid I might have life insurance and they’d rather not pay for that.
Personally, I have no problem with the helmet-less; it’s your melon, if you want to make a slushee out of it, so be it. But why the double standard when it comes to cars?
Why is it OK to import 25 year-old non U.S. standard cars, but not new ones? Do they get safer with age? Hypocrisy and money.
Would enough people buy these vehicles to make it worthwhile if they could? Doubtful. I would, but I’m probably atypical.
Would American companies build them if people wanted them? I doubt there’s enough profit in them. Maybe they’d rebadge a bunch of Indian vehicles the way they did with smallish Japanese and European cars. Possible, but not if the insurance lobby has anything to say about it, and they always have something to say about it.
I wish I had a say, but I wasn’t asked.
Small truck (or car) lovers unite! They may want to protect our lives, but they’re never going to take our freedom! In my imagination, anyway.
“Where’s my freedom?”
How many legally binding waivers are you willing to sign in your own blood? Do you have enough cash or other assets to cover whatever medical expenses you might incur? Or at least a damn good policy? Do you have your family’s blessing? How about someone to hold your beer?
Yes to all the above? Go ahead, knock yourself out. Literally.
Mahindra jeeto and tata magic iris are not designed for highways.They are specifically designed to cater only to rural roads.On Indian rural roads, huge trucks-SUV-cars are rarely driven.Rural roads see bullock carts/tractors/jeeps/state transport buses.The maximum speed on rural roads (depending on type of road) may be 40 km/hr.
These vehicles(trucks) are also used as in city transport vehicles.Warehouses are located 50 km from cities.Material is transported from there to shops in small quantities.It does not make sense to use huge trucks in narrow city lanes.
These vehicles have speed limit.They can barely go beyond 35 km/hr. Payload is small.
These vehicles make no sense in USA.They are designed for specific purpose in India and can be sold in india only.
USA already have well designed side by side and golf carts.These vehicles fall between them.They are crude,have horrible ride but I want them.
They have no electronics.They can be repaired very easily and can be converted to electric.I am thinking of buying one of it as personal vehicle.
One of my friend got personal auto rickshaw(tuktuk).He works at high position in media and regularly drives in his rickshaw despite being rich to afford mercedes.
You’re not the one who scrapes your goo off the road when you crash without a helmet…
Ummm no. I think even the Kei Cars from Japan in the 25 year gray market halo right now are superior.
That being said, the Diesel would not pass emissions here in any way shape or form. The things would actually be in the way enough to probably cause accidents, and with all of the safety feature they would have to add as well as shipping costs, the price would be closer to the Roxor by Mahindra. Now there is still some question as to why a copy of a 1940’s era Jeep cannot be sold new and legally driven on the street while the real deals are still allowed to putter around around 45 MPH legally, but until those are street legal everywhere, these will also be unwelcome for the masses in the US. Also I imagine the lack of CHang-Li level BEV options is a problem as well.
If you didn’t know, a Roxor is a copy of a 70s CJ7, which is a long long shot from a 40s jeep.
It would be awesome if they let Dodge sell these under the name “Mola Ram”
Aum moom shubai!
“Not remotely as safe as mainstream cars” is doing some heavy lifting, that thing is basically a death trap by NHTSA and IIHS standards. Think it’s also safe to say that no insurer in the U.S. would touch this thing.
I dunno… I get why this appeals to you as an enthusiast but I really don’t buy the “if only the American public had the choice they’d sell here!” argument that I keep hearing for not just this car but many others. They wouldn’t. The compromises would be so great and use cases so niche that there would not be enough volume to justify selling it here.
Seriously, if people liked cheap econoboxes then the Mitsubishi Mirage, Kia Rio and Nissan Versa would be selling hundreds of thousands of units… they aren’t. And those are downright luxurious compared to this thing. Most folks would rather buy something used.
People in general and car enthusiasts in particular are not good at grasping the difference between “this appeals to me” and “this appeals to everyone”.
Usually the cope is “actually everyone else secretly likes what I do, but can’t express that because of….(regulations, chicken taxes, automakers, etc)”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. And although it’s undeniable that those things can play a role in limiting a vehicle’s availability, it still doesn’t guarantee that the public will buy them at scale. It’s rarely profitable these days to produce a niche, low volume model for a market unless you’re talking about something like an expensive supercar.
“Mitsubishi Mirage, Kia Rio and Nissan Versa” all cost two to three times what this does, and whether they have any more utility is debatable. Also, all three of those are almost devoid of charm, and likely cost more to insure and register than a NEV or other vehicle class that can’t be taken on highways.
The Mirage, Rio and Versa are two to three times what this van costs in India. I guarantee you that if Mahindra sold this here, even if they were somehow exempted from certifying it from U.S. safety standards, it would cost at least double what it does in India, if nothing else because they can. Charm on the other hand is in the eye of the beholder. I’m probably in the minority on this site but I don’t find this van particularly charming at all.
“Not remotely as safe as mainstream cars” is doing some heavy lifting, that thing is basically a death trap by NHTSA and IIHS standards.”
So where does that leave all those SXS that I see people driving about in some US States?
I can’t argue with a mustache like that. Bring me that van. Stat.
Something like this would totally fit a need, and honestly could replace one of our cars (two car household). I work from home, and on a higher % of days I’m only driving to take my kid to school, go to the gym, run around down (hitting nothing more than 45mph roads).
Would it work for everything? No of course not, but that doesn’t mean I need a $75k F150 either.
I’ve recently been battling the fact my wife rarely drives far enough (long enough?) to recharge her battery, so it goes flat every once in a while. This tells me that a) her car is easily replaced with a golf cart. b) by “golf cart” I 100% mean one of these. I carpool so three days a week she has access to my car, and if we road trip somewhere, again, we have mine. I’m pretty sure we are not the only two American families who could do this.
She should feel fortunate she hasn’t had an oil sludge problem if the vehicle is doing short trips and not reaching operating temperature. That’s what happened to me.
Would your wife let you put her kids in this thing?
(Once again:) I like it! 🙂 Of course I do! Plus: it’s cute!
I love how the tailgate swings DOWN flat against the vehicle… that way, there’s no chance of bending it or snapping it off when a loading something heavy, with or without the aid of an improvised ramp.
I don’t like the plastic/vinyl windows on the sides and back. I dunno about Mumbai, but that’s WAY too tempting for would-be thieves in Los Angeles. Replace with regular glass windows please. Or, if that’s too costly, maybe lightly smoked plastic?
I actually think sliding doors for the sides (as on the Maxximo?) are better for vehicles like this that stress utility. It’s just way easier to load stuff from the side with a sliding door (especially in tight spaces) rather than a standard front-hinged swinging door, no matter how wide the angle it opens to.
I like diesel, so a 1-cyl diesel is fine with me. I’m assuming there’s a manual transmission in this, which is ideal w/low power. This would also make a great little EV, but of course that’d boost the price. If an EV, there SHOULDN’T be a screen at all. Either a port for a phone (to use that as a screen) or just an analog battery level meter would be sufficient. Simple and cheap.
I assume (?) that it doesn’t have air conditioning, which is also a prerequisite for me (again: LA). I know there’s not a lot of power to begin with, but a couple vents up front just to blow cool air on the faces of the driver and front-seat passenger would be enough, even if their backs are still sweaty.
The fact that it can’t reach highway speeds and would be way too risky to drive that fast anyway is FINE. Of course, I also think that it should cost less to insure and register as a result… more like NEV class vehicles (neighborhood electric vehicles) than go-anywhere full-on cars.
If it were possible to buy one of these here (with AC for about $5K) AND register/drive it legally in the US on local streets (not anything with a speed limit over 50 MPH) I think it WOULD sell. If there were a Mahindra dealer in LA, and it came in some interesting colors (non-metallic of course… unpretentious!) I’d grab my credit card and drive over to that dealership first thing after lunch today, I swear.
Then I could stop skimming used car listings every morning for a cheap BMW i3 or manual trans. Volvo C30 and get on with my to-do list. 😉
Unfortunately I think the transmission on this is a belt cvt, not a manual.
Despite my personal fondness for belt-driven CVTs (external belts, naturally) I must point out that the Jeeto has a four-speed manual transmission:
https://ic1.maxabout.us/autos/cars_india/M/2015/6/mahindra-jeeto-s-dashboard.jpg
Mike came with receipts 🙂
The comment section here already reflects the zeitgeist of the American automotive mindset, and is why we will not get these practical things amongst other ones.
Americans (and westernized wealthy countries as a whole) buy vehicles on vanity, not necessity. Increasingly, we also buy vehicles based on fear: “safe” SUVs and “big mighty” trucks. The developing world buys far more on necessity and practicality.
We won’t ever allow ourselves to “sink” to this level, if you get my drift. Short of some absolutely catastrophic economic upheaval’s aftermath, us rich westerners see these kinds of vehicles as beneath us.
Chris Bangle, of all people, I think articulated it best: Cars are avatars.
Well, practically speaking, from the perspective of an F150 cab, they are beneath us.
Correct. You can’t reinvent Manifest Destiny driving a slow tin box without air conditioning in 95 degree heat. You can’t even see American Exceptionalism from the driver’s seat of this thing. If it doesn’t have Apple CarPlay, cruise control and a/c at a minimum I, and when I say I, I mean we ‘Muricans aren’t interested. I have seen a few of those Japanese mini-trucks running around my industrial park recently. They’re quaint, bless their owner’s heart.
After seeing what a gravel truck rear-ending my Ford Freestar did on a road with a 50 kph speed limit there is no way on earth that I would have my wife and daughter drive something like this.
Then this vehicle is not for you. Same with the “But I drive at 80mph for 50 miles on the freeway each way to work” commenter. I know your comment might be in jest, but plenty of people literally make the same arguments against any “unterwagen”.
The long and short of it is, our laws have ossified around full on private motor vehicles and it leaves no room for the bottom, which is increasingly getting higher and higher. There should be myriad legal ways to get around your sleepy small town, inside a dense city, or a few miles in a more rural area.
We have falsely dichotomized ourselves into either “Luxury Highway-Capable Crash-Safe App-Loaded Motorcars” or {terrible bus service, bike, go f*** yourself}.
I could use one of these in my 7000-person town, with its 1840-width streets. Max speed (‘unless otherwise posted”) is a thundering 20 mph, and most residents consider that fast enough….
If the Jeeto comes in orange, I’m in! Unless I find a clean used Nano first.
For a brief period, Ford built a 1.0 liter EcoBoost triple that went into some Fiesta and Focus models. Maybe it would fit in this.
“I get that these aren’t remotely as safe as mainstream cars. I know”
And that’s why you know it will never make it to North America… particularly with if the IIHS and does their increasingly stringent crash tests to help convince all of us that we need to drive around in oversized tanks.
I fully expect the crash test to be similar to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buMXtGoHHIg
… and for the safety rating to be zero stars.
Neato Jeeto man!
They’ve shrunk a minivan to a microvan
I think this vehicle doesn’t comply with Article 1 of MBSRBFSONUSR (My Basic Sanity RuleBook For Surviving on US Roads):
1.a – In the likely event you’d get fenderbendered by any other average vehicle on the road, yours has to be heavy enough to not be bumped further than 15ft away, on account that the walk to the other driver’s vehicle would be too long otherwise.
1.b – In the likely event you’d get fenderbendered by any other average vehicle on the road, yours has to be able to be disengaged from said other vehicle with hydraulic tools, rather than with a scraper and/or a garden hose.
These things are cute, if they get constrained to the bicycle lanes – at least they match weight with an average Chinese electric food delivery Manhattan bicycle.
A friend in Eastern Europe once witnessed the following at a red light, years ago:
And this thing seems to be hald the weight of a first gen Damas.
This thing is the crumple zone between the car behind it and the car in front of it.
Ditto. I think if you ever rearend a regular car with this a “New USB device detected” message will show on the regular car’s dash
This is up my alley. Cheap, utilitarian transport. I paid more than this for my ex-rental hatchback with dents on every panel and over 100k miles. There’s a Kei van that drives by my place pretty regularly and I’m always jealous. A tiny footprint with better-than-expected cargo capacity for running around town is all I need.
The tiny diesel engine, not the small size, is probably the biggest reason this wouldn’t be allowed, especially in dense cities where they would make the most sense. I imagine the pollution equipment is minimal to non-existent.
Yeah, but you can bet a 16hp 600cc diesel with no emissions equipment is still less emissions than a 500hp 6700cc diesel with DEF and DPF.
I wouldn’t be so sure, small gas lawn equipment is notoriously bad for the air, and this is basically the same idea just with more particulates.
It’s really remarkable how much dirtier a small engine with no pollution controls is than a larger engine with modern emissions devices. I mean, when I stand behind my ’72 Super Beetle, I can SMELL that exhaust. It’s all tuned correctly, it’s just a carbureted car from the 70s. It stinks. Stand behind my ’14 Sportwagen TDI and you can’t smell a thing. Hell, after almost 60k miles there isn’t even any soot on the tailpipe!
Which is why I’ve always said that a great way to decrease our emissions is to electrify lawn equipment. That said, I can’t justify spending $400 on an electric push mower…..
“That said, I can’t justify spending $400 on an electric push mower…..”
That’s why I love CL and other secondhand sites. Keep an eye out, you might be able to pick up a electric mower for free. Personally I prefer corded.
Yup, anyone who has spent time in a country where the roads are full of vehicles like this knows how bad the ground level smog is. Obviously North Americans are more polluting per capita, but it’s based on an entire lifestyle of travel, consumption, eating habits, etc. Our personal vehicles are drastically less polluting than ICE cars with no emissions controls, regardless of size.
I saw a little imported Kei truck tooling around town this week. It sparked questions from the kids, as it looked like a Power Wheels toy next to the sea of F-150s around. It was definitely cool and it would be a nice conversation piece, but there’s no way you could get me to drive one of those around as a daily. Same deal with this.
no more hazardous to drive than a scooter if you ask me
Or ANY motorcycle
“…will likely be serviced by ‘a guy with a hammer standing in a hole.’”
All my years as both a shadetree mechanic and a geologist may finally pay off!
This is the way EVs should be designed. Do it this way, and you’ll basically have a forever car, that aside from a few battery pack upgrades as packs wear out and whatever maintenance items pop up along the way, will still be operational a century later. And with modern LiFePO4 batteries, that might only be 2-3 packs, if that.
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but because of capitalism, no company wants to sell a forever car. They want to sell cars that you replace every 2-3 years, with 5 years being the absolute max.
If they keep it up, eventually those non-renewable resources needed to build cars will run out or become scarce, and we’ll have lots of forever-pollutants to deal with, while no longer having the benefits that these cars once conferred.
Well, yes, but they also don’t care about that. Beyond that, I suspect that by that point it’ll be far too late anyway.
Yeah except because of capitalism there is now a hole in the market for a durable, long lasting, repairable car. Somebody will eventually try to fill that hole.
Maybe. But like the phone manufacturers that have tried the same, they’ll fail and go under.
You’ve always had the best cleavage.
Me: Bring it.
The majority of ‘Mericans: “But…but the Joneses! What ever would they say?! My word, I’ve got the vapors…” *lands squarely on the fainting couch*
Also, if the scourge of those miserable side by sides can be permitted on roads, then surely these can. Their safety, at worst, must be damn close.
I can already see the NHTSA asking us to collectively hold their beer while they address the Jeeto’s flagrantly-light 1,510 pound curb weight, a fiendish glint in their eye.
Them and the IIHS.
Problem is, it has too many wheel – things like the Polaris Slingshot, due to their three wheels, count as motorcycles and thus have no mandated safety requirements. Four wheels and it’s a car, thus lots of mandated safety requirements.
It would likely qualify under the regs for low speed vehicles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-speed_vehicle
So… It would compete with golf carts and Gators. Hilariously, the manufacturer would have to put a governor on the engine to ensure it didn’t go faster than 25mph – that, or regear whatever transmission it has to bring its top speed down.
100% true about side by sides. But these have no cool kid factor like the $30K side by side. And if you can’t cool kid, why bother existing at all?
Honestly, I would prefer a Kei truck or van for some reason. Mostly aesthetic I think. But I would rock one of these around my dumpy little town perhaps. As long as it has a real transmission and not a cvt of any kind. Thats what I hate about side by sides. I hate driving them because of the noise they make at speed.
Wow, you are so much better than all those strawmen! If only more people were just like you!
Well, I’m trying to set an example, but it’s ultimately up to them to follow it.
I can see these for delivers, short runs, or as a RV towable (may need a trailer).