The Jeep to receive competition from the Ghost of Jeeps Past?

Folks who stop in here from time to time know that I not only drive a Jeep, I'm on my third Jeep now and I use the Jeep I currently have, the best one I've ever had, as my daily driver.  I love it.

Which hasn't stopped me from lamenting the sad abandonment of the 1/4 ton 4x4 truck by the automobile industry such that what were once a proud assortment of semi dangerous off road utility vehicles is down, now, to just the Jeep.  Indeed, the SUV has gone from a collection of off road vehicles to a bunch of wimpy urban soccer transporters.  Bleh.  And Chrysler Fiat, having a really great product where it's the only one in the field, actually was pondering last year selling the product line to a Chinese fan, which might kill it with fickle Jeep owners.

Well, perhaps a slight turn of events has occurred as the Jeep is now getting competition from. . .itself.

Eh?

Yes, truly.

One of the oddities of the 4x4 around the world is that there are actually a fair collection of really rugged 4x4s made globally that never see the light of day in the US for a variety for reasons.  As, contrary to what people in the Western World think, the entire globe isn't made up of a bunch of Hollywood influenced narcissists in touch with their feelings as long as that doesn't take them much past the city park and transporting sissypooh hounds with vegan dog treats, there's a real market in a lot of places.  Toyota, fwiw, has a lot of that market sewed up globally with vehicles that it doesn't offer here, less it make the tight trouser crowed cry, but they aren't the only ones.

Indeed, one of the oddities of the 4x4 story around the world is that American military vehicles of the 40s, 50s, and 60s received a lot of local production and they still do.  We just don't think of them here.  Included in that production are Japanese and Indian versions of the Jeep.

Well, now Mahindra, an Indian company, has determined to open up a production line in the United States to sell the Mahindra Roxor.  The Roxor is a diesel engined M38A1. . the early CJ5 to most of you.

Being sold as "off road only", it will only get up to 45 mph. . . but then early Jeeps were slow and the diesel Jeeps used by various armies were not speedy.

I hope it does well.  It's taking on a titan. . even if a wounded one.