latest  Scorpio upgrade is a step  towards maturing an already-existing vehicle, so I’m not going to get into  describing all the details  that have not changed much and everyone

already knows about. M&M (according to other reviewers) have fixed the old rear suspension issue to a great extent, and in my opinion they should have stopped the changes there. I thought the looks of the previous (late 2005) model were far better. The image that comes to my mind when I look at the new model is that of a very muscular, macho man trying to look better  by dressing up in a sari and

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earrings. Some of the nicer light or moderate metallic colours are gone and only much darker or over-bright ones are available now. The  new front bumpers (splash guards), the integrated running board and the rear tail lights  are loud and hideous, and the less said of all the other little new exterior trimmings that stick out  or shine here and there the better.  But maybe I’m the only one that thinks so, so I’ll open my umbrella now  in anticipation of all the spit the diehard Scorpio fans might send my way.

I anyway went ahead and booked it because having driven a friend’s Scorpio earlier I  thought its a good, paisa-vasool vehicle, especially at the intial promotional price offer, which has since closed. I also think that the interiors of the vehicle are really adequately suited to  a medium-sized family that wants to  travel out of town in comfort for a spin every now and then, regardless of the state of our highways. It all comes down to the price - only. If one can spend a couple of lacs more, then I think that the Innova is a far  better engineered and more mature vehicle to spend on. But I also think that one shouldn’t really compare what is basically a refined jeep  to a higher-class people carrier.

A couple of months later, with M&M  still  completely  silent on a  delivery date, and my booking deposit losing interest each day, I cancelled my booking and opted out with disappointment at the way M&M seemed to be taking me for granted. The only reliable delivery information I could get was that the die for the rear spoiler had broken in the factory somehow, so vehicle deliveries, if and when they happened, would be minus the spoiler. The spolier would be sent later, and when that happened I was supposed to run back to them and get it fixed. No rebate or apologies for this, of course, and obviously no delivery schedule commitment for the  late part either. As far as M&M is concerned, the customer is quite clearly just a hungry, drooling moron who should be grateful for the opportunity he is getting to buy their brilliant product.

They just couldn’t wait to put out their promotion  blitz all over the media and eagerly lap up the booking deposits, even though they  seemed unready to  really begin full-volume  production  of  the new model. Their initial promotion offer seems to me to be more a disguised  exercise to study the early demand patterns by variant and then  revise the pricing upwards for each of them. This is, of course, only my guess  based on the fact that  they didn’t really seem to start too many deliveries until the price was revised. They certainly knew what they were doing when they stated on the reverse of the order booking form that the booking deposit  provided no interest in the event of a cancellation. And naturally, the final price applicable at the time of delivery is the latest revised one, not the one prevailing at the time of booking (I had booked during the promotion period).

Personally, and as a matter of principle, there is a limit to the amount of crap I will take. The Scorpio is a good vehicle, but not worth this much disrespect. This is 2006, not 1976, and I’d like to remind M&M that the socialist days are pretty much over. If they could wake up, get off their high horse for a while, and smell the  competition outside their factory windows maybe they’d learn a thing or two from all the foreign companies that have come to town and are runaway successes in no time, thanks to careful product selection and great respect for the customer.

Apologies to those who were looking for a true Scorpio vehicle review, but I felt that apart from the product and the dealer, its also the manufacturer that could need  a review. In my case, the dealer (Vijai Auto, Bangalore) was good, professional and courteous, even after I cancelled. They refunded my booking amount quite promptly, within 2 working days of my cancelling.  Through no fault of their  own they are losing the future stream of service-related revenues from one tiny customer, but in a country of a billion+ people I know there’ll always be enough buyers for the Scorpio. Maybe this is the problem........

Purchase Price (INR):	2005
Dealer Name and City:	mahindra coimbatore
Model Year:	2005