Force Gurkha to go on sale in September

Force Motors has announced that the Gurkha will go on sale from September 2014. The Gurkha is an SUV that was launched way back in February 2013 but will only go on sale in September since the company took its time to fine tune the vehicle after receiving feedback from auto experts and a select group of users during test drives according to Prasan Firodia, MD of Force Motors.

The Gurkha is marketed as an ‘Extreme Off-Roader’ by Force Motors and there is merit to that statement. The Gurkha comes with locking front and rear axles to begin with. It also gets a crawler feature where the ECU senses the terrain and provides fuel to the engine accordingly without the driver needing to step on the accelerator. The Gurkha has excellent water wading ability upto a height of 550mm due to a snorkel for air intake. The high 210 mm ground clearance is an added advantage. Force Motors has reinforced the tubular chassis of the Gurkha since its launch to handle torsion stresses better. This makes the Gurkha a serious contender among off-roading enthusiasts. 

Powering the Gurkha is the 2.6-litre Mercedes OM 616 derived turbo charged engine that produces 82PS of power 3200rpm and 230Nm of torque between 1800-2000rpm. The Gurkha hard top gets power steering and air conditioning. It is also available in a soft top variant. What’s impressive is that despite it being targeted for the off-road enthusiast where the vehicle is bound to receive a lot of abuse, Force Motors is offering it with a 3-year/3 lakh km warranty.

The Gurkha was priced at Rs 6.25 lakh for the 4x2 soft top, Rs 8.50 lakh for the 4x4 hard top and Rs 8.35 lakh for the 4x4 soft top. The company hasn’t stated yet if the prices will be revised by the time it is available for purchase.