India SUV maker rides into US market ... on a scooter

Ann Arbor, Michigan: India’s largest sports utility vehicle (SUV)-maker is ready to make its debut on US roads. But it’s starting with two wheels, not four.

Mahindra hopes to win over city and campus dwellers with a $2,999 (Dh11,015), Vespa-like electric scooter called the GenZe, which goes on sale this fall in California, Oregon and Michigan. Sales could soon expand to other states and Europe. If buyers like it, Mahindra could use the GenZe as a springboard into the car market, just as Honda made the leap from motorcycles to cars there in the 1970s.