The Mahindra team along with three of their special, iconic Pik Up Karoo models recently returned to Gauteng to a warm welcome from fans, and enthusiasts.
The Pik Up Karoo models completed a challenging journey that consisted of rough and tumble terrains through South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho. The aim of this journey was to showcase what the Mahindra Pik Up has to offer and introduced fans to the new Pik Up Karoo flagship models.
The three Expeditions departed from Mahindra South Africa’s Head Office in Centurion, Gauteng on Monday, 15 August, covered a total of 8 580 kms that included tough off-road tracks and trails in the three countries.
“In June, we launched these made-for-purpose adventure bakkies with a promise to Unleash the Explorer in You. To prove this, we sent these flagships bakkies to the most challenging terrains across Southern Africa. After an epic 21-day adventure, the team returned safely home with their three Pik Up models, all showing no signs of failure during the entire trip. Today, I can confidently say to you that the Mahindra Pik Up Karoo, is tough, reliable and now more capable,” says Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.
While conquering the journey through South Africa, the Pik Up Karoo’s were tracked on Mahindra’s social channels. What made this adventure so exciting and different was that Mahindra hid the details of the route in a series of clues, just like the Amazing Race! This added tons of fun and inevitable expectations for fans.
The Mahindra team members followed these clues to navigate through the extremely corrugated back trails of the Kalahari, the sand dunes of the Namib desert, the treacherous tracks of the Richtersveld, to the plush and friendly environment of the Cape Wine Route, before turning back north to Gauteng via Lesotho and the many adventure trails in KwaZulu-Natal.
On their route back into South Africa, the team took on more challenges through Richtersveld and the Namaqua Eco Trails. They were also able to capture the flower spectacle in the glorious landscape of the Namaqualand.
Just before reaching home, the team took on Sani Pass and enjoyed the Drakensberg vistas from the roof of Africa, drove through the rolling mountain grasslands of Lesotho and captured the majestic sunsets in the Golden gate.
Karoo Dusk, Dawn and Storm.
Hardy and his team, which consists of fellow adventurers, Peter King, Jaco du Plessis and Chantal Burger, the only female team member, piloted the new Mahindra Karoo Dusk, Karoo Storm and Karoo Dawn on their epic adventure.
These three very special new bakkies were first revealed in July this year when Mahindra inaugurated its new brand promise to “Unleash The Explorer In You”. Click here for more information on these iconic models.
Each model has its own unique design that defines the Karoo deset and offers a combination of lifestyle and performance accessories that makes them ready to tackle any terrain its owner challenges it against.
“The new flagship bakkies are all equipped with a unique, heavy-duty suspension with special 16-inch hardened off-road-ready alloy rims and off-road-biased tyres with a more aggressive tread pattern. Add to that the custom-designed approach and departure bumpers with recovery points, our shift-on-the-fly 4×4 system with auto-locking rear differential (Mechanical Locking Differential or MLD) and you have a lifestyle bakkie that can take on everything that Africa can throw at it,” says Rajesh.
“We were blown away by the vehicles’ performance. The heavy-duty suspension was put to work on multiple terrains and didn’t disappoint. The challenges were all absorbed with ease. Even driving up the toughest mountains, the handling still felt very comfortable. Driving along off-road trails felt like a breeze in these bakkies! What also surprised me was that we had no failures on the vehicles – this is unheard-off in such a long trip. They are incredible. I was so overwhelmed by this vehicle, that I requested to purchase the vehicle I drove”, says Hardy de Kock.
Click on the image below to view the full gallery of this exciting adventure!
The Mahindra Pik Up Karoo Dusk, Karoo Dawn and Karoo Storm are available as a standard offering from the Mahindra stable of Authentic Bakkies. What do you think of the Mahindra Karoo models? Do they stand a chance in South Africa and meet all customer needs and wants in a bakkie? Let us know in the comments section below.
