Mahindra Australia has been able to secure sufficient supply of its large Scorpio off-road SUV to tide dealers over until an updated model arrives that’ll meet incoming Australian regulations.
But stock of the current Mahindra Pik-Up will soon be exhausted, leaving the Indian brand without its ute until an all-new model arrives in mid-2026.
“Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (our parent company) is committed to adhering to all regulatory standards,” said a spokesperson for Mahindra Australia.
“We plan to introduce Scorpio with AEB [autonomous emergency braking] in Australia by the end of this year.”
The company says it has “adequate stocks” of six-seat and new seven-seat Scorpio vehicles to see dealers and customers through to the updated model.
Other brands impacted by Australian Design Rule 98/00, including Mitsubishi and Suzuki, have also confirmed they’ll have sufficient supply of affected vehicles until updated or replacement models arrive.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
Effectively, Mahindra will need to have current Scorpio vehicles imported and complied before March 1, 2025 so they can be sold, as on this date ADR 98/00 comes into effect for all passenger cars, SUVs, vans, and utes with a gross vehicle mass of under 3.5 tonnes on sale in Australia.
The Scorpio currently doesn’t offer AEB, even as an option.
ADR 98/00 (Advanced Emergency Braking for Passenger Vehicles and Light Goods Vehicles) has also spelled the end of the Mahindra Pik-Up and Suzuki Ignis.
And it has forced a range of vehicles off sale – including the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Toyota Granvia and Mazda 6 – that have AEB but don’t meet the new requirements detailed in this regulation.
Mahindra launched the Scorpio in Australia back in 2023, and confirmed at the time that AEB would come as part of a mid-life update.
It narrowly scraped by a March 1, 2023 deadline for ADR 98/00 that saw all newly introduced vehicles require the potentially life-saving feature.
When Mahindra launched the Scorpio here it also confirmed that a seven-seat option was coming “as part of the mid-product cycle update” for the large off-road SUV.
This seven-seat option is now on sale, having entered production for our market in December.
But Mahindra the mid-cycle makeover for the Scorpio, which was promised to bring AEB, has yet to arrive.
At the Scorpio’s 2023 local launch, Mahindra said it wouldn’t have the vehicle tested by safety authority ANCAP until AEB was fitted, but ANCAP subsequently purchased Scorpios to test and awarded the SUV a zero-star rating.
After the announcement of this rating, Mahindra reiterated a safety upgrade was coming and that it would have the vehicle retested. At the time, this update was understood to be due for release during the second half of 2024.
Among Mahindra’s three-model lineup in Australia, only the XUV700 comes with AEB as standard. The mid-sized SUV also features a suite of other active safety features.
Mahindra has previously confirmed a Pik-Up replacement is due here by mid-2026, and the company says it’ll meet ADR requirements at launch. Stock of the current Pik-Up is “nearly sold out”, the company added.
MORE: Everything Mahindra Scorpio
MORE: The new safety regulation that’s killing multiple models in Australia
