- Mahindra Scorpio-N to complete a series of Mahindra Adventures
- Fleet of Scorpio-Ns to travel through Namibia on some of the most challenging roads
- Standard production vehicles used for the entire trip
Mahindra is celebrating its 2024 SA Car of the Year Awards in a very unconventional way – embarking on a two-week expedition across some of the toughest terrain that Africa has to offer.
The company left Cape Town today 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. Indeed, the new Scorpio-N is brand new from the rubber to the roof.
The Scorpio-N also introduced Mahindra’s new terrain-response system, aptly names 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.
This is the last of the current series of Mahindra Adventures that the company will embark on, after promising to visit seven great adventure locations between the launch of the Special Edition Karoo Pik Up range and the Scorpio-N.
The first excursion saw a Pik Up Karoo Dusk, Karoo Dawn and Karoo Storm hit the roads and trails from the Richtersveld in Namibia to Lesotho and the Winelands of the Western Cape, all while immortalising it on film.
In the second adventure, participants challenged each other to Explore Active Living by engaging with the many outdoor experiences the Western Cape has to offer, this time behind the wheel of an XUV700.
In each of these adventures, Mahindra showed its viewers that you could truly see every part of our beautiful country behind the wheel of a Mahindra and in doing so, they invited them to do the same.
“Mahindra won the award as South Africa’s Adventure SUV of the Year and the Motor Enthusiast’s Choice. With our next and final adventure, we will prove to our fans and owners that they have made the right choice and that Mahindra will always be their preferred Adventure partner,” says Rajesh.
