Outside of the rural sector, most Aussies will likely have never heard of Mahindra, or perhaps they’ll know of the brand because of cricketer Matthew Hayden’s ambassadorship.

But back in its Indian home market Mahindra is well known and highly regarded, with a manufacturing history dating back to 1945.

India’s third largest automaker, Mahindra is the dominant player in that country’s pickup segment, the number one light commercial vehicle exporter, and the world’s largest tractor company by volume.

The giant multinational employs more than 260,000 people in over 100 countries, with enterprises spanning renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, hospitality and real estate.

The company’s presence in Australia has largely been restricted up until now to the Mahindra S11 Pikup, a sturdy ladder-frame chassis 4x4 ute, introduced in 2007 which has developed a reputation for its ruggedness, reliability, and relative simplicity.

But Mahindra’s ambitions go beyond bouncing across Aussie paddocks and its latest model, the Mahindra Scorpio 4x4 wagon spearheads its ambitious plans for growth in the Australian market.

Targeting rivals in the sub-$70k body-on-frame 4x4 wagon sector, the Scorpio’s competitors include the Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuner, among others.

Like these models, the Scorpio’s body is mounted to strong steel chassis rails, as opposed to the unitary construction of most SUVs.

This feature has long been regarded as a critical delineator of ‘proper’ 4x4s and is often the result of the vehicle being built as a wagon version of an existing ute product, which is also the case with the Scorpio, although in this instance the wagon is leading the development.

Mahindra executives at the Scorpio launch confirmed that we can expect to see an updated version of the Mahindra Pikup built on this platform soon, but were understandably keen to keep the focus firmly on the Scorpio wagon, the headline news for which is that it will cost just $41,990 driveaway for the entry-level Z8, or $44,990 driveaway for the top-shelf Z8L.

That’s around $14,000 less expensive than an equivalent spec Isuzu MU-X, and $11,000 less expensive than the Toyota Fortuner.

At this price you might expect to be getting a crude-looking 4x4 wagon with a hose-out vinyl interior and not much in the way of creature comforts, but you’d be wrong, since both versions are very well specified.

Stylistically, the Scorpio has benefitted from the input of Mahindra-owned Italian automotive design house Pininfarina, along with the company’s India Design Studio (MIDS) in Mumbai. It’s no Porsche Cayenne, but the proportions are good and there’s enough individual design flourishes to give it an individual look and feel. 

Measuring 4,662m long, 1,917m wide, 1,857m high and sitting on a 2,750m wheelbase the Scorpio has broadly similar dimensions to its key rivals, although its 2,500kg braked towing capacity trails the 3,100kg capacity of the Toyota Fortuner and the Isuzu MU-X’s 3500kg rating.

Lower body cladding gives the design the requisite rugged appearance, with both models sitting on 18-inch alloy wheels, while up front the headlights, fog lamps, daytime running lamps and sequential indicators are all LED technology.

That’s also the case with the vertically stacked LED taillights, and there’s functional roof rails atop the stepped roof design to mount roof racks or other equipment.

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Engineering development for the new Scorpio was undertaken at the Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) in India, and Mahindra North American Technical Centre (MNATC) in the US, with the manufacturer claiming one million kilometres of testing on four continents, plus an additional six-month test program in Australia.

Though new to Australia, the Scorpio nameplate is well known in India where it started life in 2002 as a robust and capable 4WD.

Naturally, there have been various facelifts and updates over the model’s 20-year lifespan and this third-generation model is claimed to be “new from the ground up”, with an all-new platform and body.

The Scorpio’s third-generation body-on-frame platform is claimed to have class-leading structural rigidity, thanks to extensive use of high and super-high-strength steels in the body and frame. 

Power comes from an in-house developed all-aluminium 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, delivering 129kW/400Nm. That’s below the outputs of rivals such as the Isuzu MU-X (140kW/450Nm) and Toyota Fortuner (150kW/500Nm), but the Scorpio tips the scales at a relatively svelte 2,100kg, so its power-to-weight ratio is competitive.

The ‘mHawk’ diesel engine is Euro 6 emissions compliant, requiring the addition of AdBlue diesel exhaust treatment fluid, but with a 20-litre reservoir capacity Mahindra says it should comfortably handle the 15000km between service intervals.

Featuring independent front suspension with double wishbones and torsion bar springs up front and multilink Watts Link rear suspension with coil springs, the Scorpio also features shock absorbers with frequency dependent damping technology.

This feature allows ‘best-of-both-worlds’ damping performance, with low damping forces for a comfortable ride when appropriate, but instantly firming up to provide high damping force when better body control is required, such as when cornering.

The resulting suppleness of the Scorpio’s suspension and its overall ride and handling balance was one of several pleasant surprises during our test drive of the new model, along with the eager performance of its impressively smooth diesel four-cylinder, and good NVH suppression out on the open road.

The engine mates well with a smooth-shifting Aisin six-speed automatic gearbox, delivering suitably responsive open-road performance.

Braking is via four-wheel disc brakes which provide capable stopping power, while the Scorpio’s dual-pinion electronic power steering is well weighted and direct, with variable speed dependant weighting, meaning it’s light and easy at parking speeds but firmer and more direct as speed increases.

Along with some limited freeway and secondary road driving, the drive program included a quick-ish charge around a temporary circuit carved through a lumpy paddock, where the suspension showed its impressive bump absorption ability.

It’s not the sort of treatment most owners are likely to dish out to their vehicles but did vindicate Mahindra’s claims about the efficacy of Frequency Dependent Damping.

The off-road driving component of the test program also included a selection of small hills, gullies, water crossings and other obstacles designed to showcase the Scorpio’s all-terrain abilities, which it handled without raising a sweat, despite rolling on road-oriented 255/60R18 tyres.

With good approach and departure angles, a dual-range transfer case, 227mm of ground clearance, and a standard fitment locking rear differential, the Scorpio has the sort of fair-dinkum off-road ability that many buyers in this category are looking for.

While we didn’t do any sand driving, our impression is that it won’t baulk at a trip to Fraser Island, Cape York or the Simpson Desert, although its modest 57-litre fuel tank capacity might be a limiting factor for the latter.

Even when being driven in its standard rear-wheel drive mode the Scorpio’s traction control system is designed to brake a spinning wheel and send drive to the wheel with grip, while the mechanical locking rear diff will engage automatically at speeds up to 30km/h in 2H or 4H.

The part-time shift-on-the fly 4x4 system enables shifting between 2WD and 4WD high while on the move using a console-mounted switch, with low range available once stopped via a similar switch, or a rotary terrain select dial.

The 4XPLOR terrain management system includes four selectable modes for different terrains, including Normal, Snow, Mud, and Sand, with the latter automatically disengaging traction control to enable sufficient wheelspin to maintain momentum.

There are no steering wheel paddle shifts but the automatic transmission lever allows manual selection of gears via a sideways gate selection and then traditional push-pull for higher or lower gears.

Once in first-gear low range, the Scorpio crawls along at an impressively careful pace – its good ground clearance and well-judged approach and departure angles enabling safe negotiation of obstacles.

Nothing encountered on the drive program seriously challenged the Scorpio, and its off-road abilities appear to be up there with some of the best in the category.

It arguably even holds an edge over some of them via its well-engineered ride and handling balance.

However, it’s not all plain sailing and there are several critical areas where the Scorpio falls short of the mark.

Firstly, and most significantly, it lacks some important safety features including lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control, which are prerequisites for vehicles to achieve a five-star ANCAP safety score.

Mahindra claims the Scorpio is the first body-on-frame SUV to secure a five-star rating in the Global New Car Assessment program’s (GNCAP) crash test protocols, and that it complies with additional tests including pole side impact, pedestrian protection and more. But the absence of the latest electronic driver safety aids in a family SUV at a time when such features are available on dual-cab utes is a miss.  

The Scorpio is not without safety merit, however, and Mahindra claims the extensive use of high and ultra-high-strength tensile steel in the body and frame ensures excellent torsional and bending stiffness for enhanced handling, as well as good structural safety.

In addition to this, its standard features include electronic stability control, antilock braking system with electronic brake force distribution, rollover mitigation, hill hold control and hill descent control.

There are also six airbags including driver and passenger front and side thorax airbags, plus curtain airbags for the first and second rows.

Mahindra executives said at the launch that the curtain airbag provided “partial protection” for the third row but families may be wary of putting kids back there due to this issue.

There’s also no ISOFIX mounting points in the third row, so kids will need to be big enough to sit back there without using a child seat.  

Other safety kit includes trailer sway mitigation, ESP brake disc wiping which is triggered by the windscreen wiper sensors and dries the pads in preparation for brake use, and electronic brake prefill which senses a fast lift off the accelerator and pre-fills the brake lines for maximum braking when required.   

As with many of its rivals, accommodation in the third-row seating is compact, and only suitable for smaller kids and pre-teens.

Unusually, the seat is a bench design, as opposed to the more common 50:50 split.

When not in use the seat folds up vertically against the second row, taking up space and eating into load capacity.

When folded the seat is restrained by a basic looking single webbing strap that connects to the second-row headrests, with the whole design looking somewhat rudimentary, albeit functional.  

Things are much better in the second row, which features a pair of comfortably shaped individual ‘captains chairs’ as standard on both models – there’s currently no bench seat available so the Scorpio’s maximum seating capacity is six.

The seats are fixed, so adjust for rake only, with a quick folding mechanism on the passenger side to flip and lift the pew to allow third-row access.

A pair of centre armrests, individual air vents with a single fan and temperature control, a USB-C plug, seat back pockets and door-mounted drink bottle holders round out the offering.

Things are comfortable up front as well, once you adjust to the potent petrochemical aroma that hits you upon entering.

The cab design and layout are attractive and conventional in terms of placement of major controls and switches.

The coffee-black leatherette upholstery looks classy and is complemented by a faux-leather stitched dash, and leatherette seat coverings.

The gear knob and steering wheel are also trimmed leatherette and there are strategically placed splashes of chrome metal trim to further lift the ambience. At first glance, the lower door and upper dash plastics look to be reasonable quality but feel hard and drummy to the touch.

Tech and comfort features, common to both the Scorpio Z8 and Z8L, include a sunroof, dual-zone climate control with individual second seat controls, and an eight-inch infotainment screen.

The Z8L gets wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, plus wireless phone charging but you’ll need a cable to run these features on the Z8. The extra money for the Z8L also brings a 12-speaker ‘Sony Branded’ Audio with twin channel sub-woofer, front camera and front park assist sensors, seven-way powered driver’s seat, and a seven-inch colour digital instrument display screen.

The steering wheel boss houses audio and cruise controls with adjustment for height but not reach, which isn’t ideal but it’s still easy enough to find a comfortable driving position.

The Z8L driver’s seat in the is the only pew to get electric adjustment but both front seats are decently supportive and comfortable.

A high seating position provides good visibility over the bonnet, with the upright windscreen aiding forward visibility, and a high glass-to-metal ratio also making for good passenger visibility.

There’s not much room for oddments stowage in and around the centre console, which houses a single cup holder, and the lidded centre console is like a reverse Tardis, in that it looks big but holds very little.

The manual handbrake will please old-school off-roaders who dread the idea of electronic varieties, and the Scorpio also has an electronic hill hold function that’s meant to hold the vehicle on a gradient without needing to use the handbrake.

We tried it on a steep off-road section, and it failed to hold effectively but performed well on less steep sections.   

Access to the cargo bay is via a single-piece side-hinged door which opens towards the driver’s side.

Boot space is a claimed 756 litres with the third row tumbled or 686 litres with the seat in place.

Either way, the luggage area is impacted by the third row and the seat mounting points and other intrusions mean the floor is not completely flat.

A 12-V power outlet in the cargo bay provides accessory power and there’s a full-size spare wheel mounted underneath the rear of the vehicle, which is laudable but results in that smallish 57-litre fuel tank.

Despite this, the Scorpio’s relatively thrifty 7.2L/100km combined cycle average fuel consumption means its touring range is just under 800km, which is respectable.

Urban consumption is a claimed 7.8L/100km and extra-urban 6.8L/100km.

Mahindra’s timing with the Scorpio appears to be excellent, given that Mitsubishi has vacated the spot once occupied by the Pajero, Toyota Prado is ageing, and the price of rival 4x4 wagons like the Pajero Sport, Ford Everest and Toyota Fortuner is pushing into territory that’s getting painful for family budgets.

A seven-year/150,000km factory warranty for private buyers offers further enticement.

There’s no doubt that the Scorpio’s sharp driveaway pricing, extensive features, excellent warranty, and good all-round performance will turn some heads in this category, particularly those buyers looking for value and all-terrain ability, with the main caveats being a small but growing dealer footprint, and those missing safety features.

Key stats

• PRICE: $44,990  (driveaway) 
• ENGINE: 2.2-litre ‘mHawk’ all-aluminium four-cylinder turbo diesel (129kW @ 3500rpm and 400Nm @ 1750-2750rpm)
• ANCAP CRASH RATING: Not yet rated.
• FUEL CONSUMPTION (combined cycle, litres/100km): 7.2.L/100km (190g CO2/km)
• FOR: Keenly priced, good on and off-road performance, well appointed, well-judged ride and handling balance, excellent warranty.
• AGAINST: Lacks several key safety features, poorly designed third row, some low-quality materials and finishes, six seat capacity only.