Mahindra is celebrating its 2024 SA Car of the Year Awards in a very unconventional way by embarking on a two-week expedition across some of the toughest terrain that Africa has to offer.
The company left Cape Town on Friday for a trip through South Africa and Namibia on a route that includes every type of terrain, including some uncharted routes in the unforgiving Namib desert.
“In recognising the Mahindra Scorpio-N as the winner of the Adventure SUV of the Year, the SA Guild of Mobility Journalists tested both the on-road manners and off-road performance of the vehicle.
“We want to replicate their tests and rev it up a few notches to show that our build quality and the quality of the underlying engineering in the Scorpio-N make it the perfect companion to unleash real adventure, straight off the showroom floor,” says Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.
The new flagship SUV rides on a new-generation ladder frame platform that uses a new Pentalink multi-link rear suspension, a new generation of the mHawk turbodiesel engine with 128.6 kW and 400 Nm of torque and a new 6-speed automatic transmission.
The Scorpio-N also introduced Mahindra’s new terrain-response system, aptly named 4XPLOR, which allows the driver to change the vehicle settings and performance characteristics to match the terrain and driving conditions.
Also worth noting is that the Mahindra Scorpio-N has set a new benchmark in the market for ladder framed off-road vehicles by achieving a full five-star safety rating in the Global New Car Assessment Programme.
To put this technology to the test, a team of explorers from Specialised Adventures and Mahindra will drive a fleet of standard production models through the Skeleton Coast, Damaraland and Kaokoland before returning to Head Office in Pretoria, Gauteng.
The adventure will kick off in the moonlike landscape of the infamous Skeleton Coast, the Achilles heel of many an adventure-thirsty explorer in the past. Here they will take on the Langstrand dunes before going in search of the Zelia shipwreck.
Following this, the team will head to Damaraland where they will explore and discover the 1000-year-old living fossils that are the Welwichia Mirrabilis. They will then ascend into the highest mountain in Namibia from the foothills in the Ugab River before finally exploring the Spitzkoppe of this area of the trek.
Finally, in Kaokoland, the team will go in search of the Himba tribe, attempt get behind the secret of the Lone Men of the Kaokoland and explore the Hoarusib and Hoanib riverbeds in the hope of getting up close and personal with the Namib Desert elephants.
The first episode that will capture this exciting adventure will be posted on Mahindra’s social media channels on 21 June 2024.
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Volvo has confirmed that its vehicles will now integrate Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence system. This development builds on the company’s existing collaboration with Google, which already provides Android Automotive OS and Google services in Volvo models.
New vehicle sales in 2026 continued their positive trend in April, with the 47 979 units sold marking the best April figure since 2013. This represents a remarkable performance by local automotive retailers despite a host of economic headwinds and a challenging trading environment.
April 2026 marked a turning point in South Africa’s economic landscape, as global energy markets were jolted by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, according to naamsa | The Automotive Business Council.
