Force, Please Bring This Gurkha Pickup To India

• Force Gurkha pickup is a long-wheelbase twin cab truck with four doors. 

• The Gurkha-based vehicle to be locally produced by Republik Motor in Indonesia soon.

• Gets the same 2.6-litre diesel engine as the India-spec Gurkha with 91PS and 250Nm. 

• In India, Force will introduce the five-door Gurkha soon, but has no plans for a pickup truck yet. 

Previously, we at Zigwheels had brought you an image rendering of the Force Gurkha in pickup truck form. But our concept has finally become reality, although not in India. A carmaker called Republik Motor has introduced a Gurkha-based pickup in Indonesia at the 2022 Indo Defence Expo and Forum. 

Reportedly, Republik Motor is set to locally manufacture the Ksatria twin cab pickup truck in its home country and a civilian version is on the cards as well. With no plans for a similar lifestyle vehicle in India yet, the Force Gurkha pickup, which has finally turned our dreams to reality, is so close, yet so far. 

Ksatria pickup truck specs and features 

The Ksatria pickup truck is a twin cab, four-door pickup truck that’s based on the long-wheelbase, five-door Gurkha platform. At the front, it has the same snorkel air intake as the India-spec Force Gurkha and similar bumpers and front grille, but it gets a rugged-looking bull bar at the front as well. 

The interesting bit is at the rear, where the pickup truck (and its SUV sibling that was also showcased) feature square-shaped LED elements in the taillights for a retro-modern look. The back windshield seems to be fixed in place, unlike some pickup trucks that have a sliding or wind-down rear window. 

Interestingly, the short bed is a part of the bodywork and isn’t separate from the truck cab as it would be in body-on-frame pickup trucks such as the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross. The show truck also had a missile launcher in the bed – a demonstration of its versatility for military applications. 

Similar interior as the Gurkha 

Inside, the Ksatria pickup has the same design and dashboard layout as the Force Gurkha. It has a dual-tone, black-beige interior theme (Gurkha has all-black interiors) and seemingly plusher leather seats. The touchscreen seems similarly sized and the power window switches have been moved from the centre console to the doors. 

Gurkha-based pickup truck specs

The Ksatria pickup truck is powered by the same 2.6-litre diesel engine as the India-spec Gurkha 4x4. In the India-spec SUV, the powertrain is good for 91PS and 250Nm and comes paired with a five-speed manual gearbox. The truck version will likely get the same 4x4 hardware as the Gurkha with a low-range transfer case and mechanically locking front and rear differentials. 

• Force Gurkha 5-door: First Look At The Roomiest Lifestyle SUV

• New Force Gurkha 5-door Spied With Jump Seats And Split Spoke Alloy Wheels

Apart from the Ksatria pickup truck reveal, we also got our first undisguised look at the production-spec five-door Gurkha. The Indonesian SUV will get a six-seater layout with second row captain seats and a two-seater bench in the third row. In India, previous spy shots have revealed that the Gurkha five-door will have a second row bench seat with captain third row seats (in the seven-seater variant) and jump seats (in the 13-seater model).

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