The highly popular Mahindra Pik Up range has a new flagship and its automatic! The all-new Mahindra Pik Up S11 Automatic arrives on dealership floors a couple of months after completing a year of arduous testing in South African conditions, including extended durability testing at the tough Gerotek test track outside Pretoria.
“South Africa is the first country in the world to officially launch the all-new Pik Up Automatic, which is only fitting, since it was the test bed for this model. There has been an overwhelming demand for an automatic transmission in our bakkie range, and we believe we have the perfect answer with the S11 and S11 Karoo AT,” says Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.
According to Namibian industry sources, the much anticipated S11 can be expected at local showrooms within the next few weeks due to limited stock of the popular vehicle. The all-new six speed automatic transmission, used for the first time on this model, means the vehicle is expected to retail locally for N$420 000 without the service plan and around N$440 000 with the service plan.
The Mahindra S11 features a sequential self-shifting option and is mated, in 4×4 models, to a new Hill Descent Control (HDC) system that utilises engine and vehicle braking for slow descents on tough, off-road terrain and that can be controlled with the in-built cruise control system.
The transmission has been designed to offer near-imperceptible shifts and to best utilise the 320Nm of torque delivered by Mahindra’s mHawk turbodiesel engine, while the engine mapping has been fine-tuned to work perfectly with the standard cruise control system, for effortless long-distance cruising.
At first, the new automatic gearbox will only be available in the double cab Pik Up body style. It will be launched with a new, luxury S11 specification level that includes all the luxuries of the S10 and more.
“Our market research shows that customers often prefer an automatic transmission in the double cab lifestyle segment of the bakkie market. We have therefore combined the new automatic transmission with a very high level of luxury equipment so that the customer’s every need is taken care of,” says Rajesh.
The new automatic transmission is not the only change to the Pik Up flagship. The new S11 specification level boasts a new grille and bumper, upgraded headlamps and other subtle luxury changes to the design to make sure that it immediately stands out as the top-of-the-range model.
The main design change is the bold and stylish new grille, which replaces the narrower chrome inlays of the S10 model with wider chromed vents that are reminiscent of the range-topping Mahindra Scorpio S11 models.
The grille is flanked by new headlamps, with chrome inserts housed in and behind clear screens. New, chromed fog lamp surrounds in the wide, lower air intake round off the front design changes.
In addition to the new front design, the S11 Automatic Pik Up has colour-coded side mirrors with integrated indicators. At the rear of the new model, there are S11 and Automatic decals as well as the addition of a new reverse camera that has to date not been available on any Pik Up model.
To further boost the premium appeal of the all-new S11 Automatic Pik Up, Mahindra has added a host of new luxury features as standard on all models.
Taking centre stage is a brand-new 7” touch screen infotainment system with a capacitive interface. This new system offers Bluetooth connectivity, a multitude of entertainment and vehicle information screens and full turn-by-turn navigation as standard. The infotainment screen also displays the image of the in-built reverse camera in full colour.
All S11 models will be fitted with Mahindra’s much-loved mHawk turbodiesel engine of 2.2 litres.
– Mahindra SA