Chrysler's decision to cut 25% of its dealerships is providing an opportunity for Indian car and truck manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra to enter the U.S. market quickly.

Two metro Detroit dealers who lost their Chrysler franchises last week -- Tibor Gyarmati of Mt. Clemens (formerly Dodge) and Gus Russo of Lochmoor (formerly Chrysler-Jeep) on Mack Avenue on Detroit's east side -- expect to begin selling their first Mahindra compact pickups this fall. Doug North of North Brothers Ford in Westland also will join the Mahindra network.

"One door closes, and another one opens," said Russo, who also intends to keep his Mack Avenue dealership open for used car sales and service. "What really attracted me is that every engine they have is a clean-burning diesel. You can fill up in Detroit and drive to New York City before you have to fill up again."

Mahindra has set up a U.S. marketing arm, known as Global Vehicles USA, in Alpharetta, Ga. It wants to sell 45,000 trucks in its first 12 months in the United States with a network of about 300 dealerships, said Casey McGraw, Global Vehicles' vice president for sales. Mahindra has sold tractors in the United States since 1994.

According to the Global Vehicles Web site, Mahindra will offer a small SUV in fall 2010. Russo said he expects prices of $13,000 to $15,000. The pickups will be imported from India for the first six months. Mahindra plans to assemble them through a contract manufacturing partner in the United States by mid-2010.

All the engines will be 2.2-liter diesels mated with a 6-speed automatic transmission.

Gyarmati said these diesels are nothing like the dirty smelly diesels some Americans associate with certain General Motors and Volkswagen cars of the 1970s.

"That was a different era," Gyarmati said. "Now, with diesel selling for less than gasoline, their timing is just right."