Hindustan Motors will finally launch the Pajero Sport SUV in India at the Auto Expo in January 2012. HM was planning to introduce the model for quite a while but was unable to arrive at a competitive price due to a sharply rising Yen.

The Japanese currency has shot up around 13 percent over last year and this steep rise has pushed up costs. To combat the galloping Yen, HM is planning to aggressively to localise its upcoming SUV which will be assembled in HM’s Thiruvallur factory in Tamil Nadu, where the current Pajero (recently upgraded to BS IV) is also made. HM plans to price the Pajero Sport in the range of Rs 20-23 lakh.

The Pajero Sport gets a 2.5-litre 16-valve intercooled turbocharged diesel heart producing 134bhp and 32kgm of torque. It comes with Mitsubishi’s rally-proven shift-on-the-fly Super Select 4WD and a high 215mm ground clearance which should give it terrific off-road capability. An added bonus is an extra row seats which makes the Pajero a seven-seater.

HM have big plans for the Pajero Sport and the company is banking on this model as the mainstay of the company’s limited product portfolio. 

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