Mahindra Pik-Up vs Ford Ranger

What's the difference?

The current generation Mahindra PikUp has been with us since 2007, which is a long time given major players in this market tend to introduce a new generation every decade, or close to it.

However, with Mahindra reportedly developing an all-new ute, based on the underpinnings of its latest Scorpio SUV, the budget-priced PikUp is destined for retirement within a few years.

Better late than never, the latest MY23 version of the S11 dual-cab has for the first time been equipped with an automatic, which is sure to increase buyer appeal in a market in which self-shifting transmissions rule.

We recently revisited this Indian-built dual cab to see how it measures up for tradies in such a competitive market.

Ford has given its Ranger ute range a mild facelift. And mild is the word. If you look closely, you might notice some small visual changes, but the real news is under the bonnet where a new entry-level powerplant lives.

And however you look at it, this new engine that addresses the ownership issues experienced by some Ranger buyers since the bi-turbo diesel engine was released back in 2018, was probably overdue.

But the new powerplant comes at a cost; in terms of power and torque, even though the vital towing statistics remain for the Ranger.

The other changes that come with this facelift include some new tech, and the availability of the V6 turbo-diesel (which is unchanged) across the entire Ranger 4X4 dual-cab line-up.

For this review, we’ve concentrated on the new engine as being the major point of difference, and we’ve driven it the base-version XL trim specification. That means this is potentially the lightest variant, and heavier specifications might blunt the performance a little. But overall, this is representative of the new powertrain and represents the biggest point of difference in what is otherwise a very minor facelift.