Force Motors Revives Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV

[visran]

One of the most capable on-off road SUVs that was sold in India as recently as 2010 was the Gurkha, from Force Motors. This low volume, built-to-order SUV was pulled off the market for reasons best known to Force Motors in early 2011. The Gurkha SUV, which is based on the legendary Mercedes Benz Gelande Wagen is a rugged vehicle that Force Motor builds in India, with the heart of the matter being the Daimler derived turbo diesel engine. While there was talk about the OM611 common rail turbo diesel engine making it to the Gurkha just before it was discontinued, that hasn’t materialized thus far.

Going forward though, the OM611 engine could indeed make it to the engine bay of the Gurkha, which is also expected to see a facelift, when it is relaunched in India. This 2.2 Liter turbocharged, intercooled, common rail diesel engine is used on the Force One SUV as well, and in that product, the engine produces a peak power of 140 Bhp and a peak torque of 320 Nm. This engine is mated to a five speed manual transmission. The same engine and transmission combination is expected to be used on the facelifted Gurkha as well, along with a 4 wheel drive layout, with the customary 4L ratio that off roaders come with.

The Force Gurkha, though highly capable, remains largely unknown to most SUV buyers given the lack of marketing efforts by Force Motors, which hitherto has focused on the commercial vehicle end of the business. However, the brand now has a new dedicated passenger vehicle division with the Force One SUV being the first product launched under this banner. This passenger vehicles division, which has its own chain of sales and service outlets is expected to spearhead sales of the facelifted Gurkha. Previously, the Gurkha was sold by Force Motors’ commercial vehicle dealerships, resulting in a customer experience much below par that a passenger car buyer has now come to expect in India.

Currently, the dedicated off roader market has just two other offerings; the Maruti Gypsy and the Mahindra Thar. While the Gypsy is made-to-order, the Mahindra Thar is available across India and is currently the market leader with decent sales given the niche that this vehicle operates in. The Force Gurkha, which offers much more than the Thar, in terms of being ready for both on and off road use, could be a big success, if Force motors prices it well and launches it with some nifty marketing to build the buzz around what promises to be one of the most capable off road vehicles in the country.

Force Motors plans to revive the Gurkha on-off road SUV soon | IndianCarsBikes.in

 

[smooth rider]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

thats good news. hope it will hit the market very soon. i was of the impression that it was still made to order and not pulled off the market.

 

[visran]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

thats good news. hope it will hit the market very soon. i was of the impression that it was still made to order and not pulled off the market.

It was pulled off the market when BS4 was commissioned, I hope they do a complete revamp of this model, A nice hardtop with all comfort features and a proper 4X4 hardware at the price of Bolero sound's very interesting.

 

[anup.jeep]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

It was pulled off the market when BS4 was commissioned, I hope they do a complete revamp of this model, A nice hardtop with all comfort features and a proper 4X4 hardware at the price of Bolero sound's very interesting.

I truly hope that Force revamps this time as 'Gurkha' has a very capable heart in the form of its engine and has great 4x4 essentials, the interiors needs attention, I think it was discontinued maybe low volume sales was a major part to it, but Force is seen as a commercial-people carrier owing its identical looks to the Force Toofan, Trax that run in the rural areas, what I think is 'Gurkha' needs a little face-lift and totally follow a path of the G-Wagen that it originated from atleast to some extent in an economical way with which it can appeal to a person as Mahindra has done with the Thar so that urban segment is drawn to it. Even correct pricing would be required, I think the Gurkha used to cross the 10Lac bracket earlier due to which customer gets drawn to a Safari or Scorpio in that price range. Hope to see one more competent offroader/4x4 as I love this segment and would like to see much more products in this segment. Lets hope for the best.

 

[visran]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

I truly hope that Force revamps this time as 'Gurkha' has a very capable heart in the form of its engine and has great 4x4 essentials, the interiors needs attention, I think it was discontinued maybe low volume sales was a major part to it, but Force is seen as a commercial-people carrier owing its identical looks to the Force Toofan, Trax that run in the rural areas, what I think is 'Gurkha' needs a little face-lift and totally follow a path of the G-Wagen

Going forward though, the OM611 engine could indeed make it to the engine bay of the Gurkha, which is also expected to see a facelift, when it is relaunched in India. This 2.2 Liter turbocharged, intercooled, common rail diesel engine is used on the Force One SUV as well, and in that product, the engine produces a peak power of 140 Bhp and a peak torque of 320 Nm. This engine is mated to a five speed manual transmission. The same engine and transmission combination is expected to be used on the facelifted Gurkha as well, along with a 4 wheel drive layout, with the customary 4L ratio that off roaders come with.

 

[anup.jeep]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

Going forward though, the OM611 engine could indeed make it to the engine bay of the Gurkha, which is also expected to see a facelift, when it is relaunched in India. This 2.2 Liter turbocharged, intercooled, common rail diesel engine is used on the Force One SUV as well, and in that product, the engine produces a peak power of 140 Bhp and a peak torque of 320 Nm. This engine is mated to a five speed manual transmission. The same engine and transmission combination is expected to be used on the facelifted Gurkha as well, along with a 4 wheel drive layout, with the customary 4L ratio that off roaders come with.

That truly is a good news 'visran', as you mentioned earlier if pricing is right by Force then its gonna be great. Really love the rugged look of these kinda vehicles. When is it expected by the way, any idea about the dates?

 

[S Class]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

This seems to be true off-roader with some comfort for passengers unlike Thar which considers passengers as commandos on some mission !

BTW, see the pic closely, the exhaust is placed above the cabin, similar to tractor or trailer trucks. This is useful in Mumbai monsoons !
And I hope they don't name it Gurkha.

 

[anup.jeep]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

BTW, see the pic closely, the exhaust is placed above the cabin, similar to tractor or trailer trucks. This is useful in Mumbai monsoons !
And I hope they don't name it Gurkha.

The exhaust is called a INTAKE SNORKEL whose purpose is to avoid getting the water into the engine, not only best for Mumbai rains but also for offroading while going through water upto a certain extent, in my opinion all vehicles whether 4x4 or not should have a snorkel you never know when super heavy rains are gonna strike you and leave you with flooded roads.

 

[visran]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

FORCE MOTORS BEGINS TESTING REVAMPED GURKHA 4X4 SUV; INDIA LAUNCH COULD HAPPEN IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS

Force Motors has begun establishing dedicated dealerships to sell its SUVs.
These dealerships, which were first established to sell the Force One SUV are expected to also sell the upcoming facelifted Gurkha, which was taken off the market more than a year ago. Previously, one had to place an order for the Gurkha at Force Motors’ commercial vehicle dealerships. Apart from a shoddy dealership experience in most cases, the Gurkha came with a waiting period of over 6 months, which in this day and age of instant gratification was as obsolete as bell bottom pants. Now though, with the dealership experience vastly improved through dedicated passenger vehicle dealerships, the Gurkha could find a lot more takers, what with the higher visibility the new dealerships would offer.

The facelifted Gurkha is expected to come with the OM611 common rail turbo diesel engine. This 2.2 Liter unit, that also does duty on the likes of the Force One SUV and the Traveller Utility Vehicle, could produce a peak power of 140 Bhp and a peak torque of 320 Nm. This engine which has been designed by Mercedes Benz is built by Force Motors. The engine is expected to be mated to a five speed manual gearbox, which will send power to all four wheels of the SUV, through the four wheel drive system.

Force Motors begins testing revamped Gurkha 4X4 SUV; India launch could happen in the next few months | IndianCarsBikes.in

 

[THE XOVER]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

O wow what a great news for 4x4 lovers.If priced well with the induction of new 2.2 lt engine this thing could very well shake the market.Mahindra Thar better watch out!!

 

[caruns]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

A very good move by Force motors, but what really worries that will there be enough takers other than a few off road enthusiasts?. From the spy pics, not much change in design can be observed. IMO, they could have done something on the exterior like plane doors, meshed grills with little chrome strips etc which can give more manly look like that in old land rover defender which can attract some of the normal buyers looking for a 'muscular vehicle'. 5 doors would have been nice rather than 3 doors. Alloys from Force One looks nice. The 140 bhp Merc engine is something which can wipe off other off indian roaders.

 

[visran]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

Gurkha is a proven product, it has lot of followers all Force motor's has to do is re-design the entire interior and use quality material across the vehicle and then see i selling like hot cakes

 

[caruns]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

Gurkha is a proven product, it has lot of followers all Force motor's has to do is re-design the entire interior and use quality material across the vehicle and then see i selling like hot cakes

+1. Any day I will say that Force vehicles got a better ride quality than Mahindra. Not sure about the build quality. Still they are far behind Mahindra in all aspect. Come on Force..u guys still got ample of fans here

 

[S Class]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

O wow what a great news for 4x4 lovers.If priced well with the induction of new 2.2 lt engine this thing could very well shake the market.Mahindra Thar better watch out!!

+1 and not to forget the exhaust is placed above the roof, good for water logged areas, especially in Mumbai's low lying areas .
And Thar looks like Commander or any other jeep, Gurkhas has 'Hatke' looks, best part is the engine sourced from Daimler. If priced well, it can pick up for sure. Force already has good presence in tier3 towns & rural areas. Now only if they price it like Force One, then .

 

[Gurrala74]

Re: Force Motors Plans To Revive Legendary ‘Gurkha’ SUV Soon

Visran

I never heard or seen such SUV from Force so far

Or it is called with some other name in this part of the country !!