Latest SUV out of India’s record desert crossing has NZ distributor thinking about putting it through a local test of its mettle.

AN Australian can-do effort that has put a family sports utility out of India into the world’s most famous record book has excited the model’s New Zealand distributor.

Premium Distributors Limited says the Mahindra Scorpio having set an inaugural world record crossing of Australia’s most inhospitable desert, the Simpson, recently is a testimony to toughness Kiwis will relate to.

The four-wheel-drive wagon nailed, in 13 hours 21 minutes and five seconds, a crossing that usually takes a week

Speaking to MotoringNZ.com on a trip to India last week to view Mahindra’s assets and for a first drive of the Scorpio ahead of it coming on sale here this month, Russell Burling, a motor industry identity and advisor to PDL, says  the feat will be highlighted in promotional material for the model, on sale here this month.

“It’s an exciting achievement and we know New Zealanders will immediately grasp the enormity of what was achieved. 

“Crossing a desert in itself is a massive thing. That they did it in record time really is something else again.”

The Auckland-based operation is now wondering if it can concoct an endurance test here to add a Kiwi-pure stamp of authenticity to its story.

It’s open to any ideas.

Mahindra representatives hosting Kiwi media were also abuzz about the  wagon’s recognition by Guinness World Records for the “fastest crossing by a production vehicle of the Simpson desert” and the first established record of this kind. 

They said it made headlines in national press.

The sand-storming effort was not your usual speed record. Average velocity on the 385km journey was 28.84 kilometres’ per hour.

Even so, Australia’s motoring media say most holidaymakers comfortably take up to five days to travel the same distance as conditions are notoriously harsh. 

The Scorpio drove east to west, from the remote township of Birdsville to the Alka Seltzer Bore on March 16, 2023, but the company waited until July 4 to announce the achievement.

Four-wheel-drive experts Gene Corbett and Ben Robinson were involved.

The desert is closed to travellers between Decem­ber 1 and March 15 due to extreme temperatures. Even so, Mahindra recorded peak outside temperatures of 50 degrees during the attempt. The route also traversed around 1100 sand hills.

The car was in mostly to the same configuration as the production model coming here.

It did run aftermarket Cooper all-terrain tyres and the middle and rear-most seats were removed for additional fuel storage. The Scorpio's sway bars were also removed for the record attempt.

The type runs a 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine, which runs through a six-speed automatic transmission and makes 129kW at 3500rpm and 400Nm at 1700-2750rpm.

The writer was a guest of Mahindra, with travel, accommodation, meals and a small gift provided.