Diesel Forcast is reporting that Indian firm Mahindra & Mahindra will be showing a diesel-hybrid powertrain on its Appalachian pickup at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit. Not much is known about the system, other than that it's likely based on the company's 50-state-legal 2.2-liter inline four engine. [Note: Mahindra VP for Engineering and R&D Arun Jaura worked on the Ford Escape Hybrid program before moving to his current position.] Mahindra already has a U.S. distributor, but has not yet provided details about the U.S. release of its pickup or Scorpio SUV in either diesel or hybrid diesel forms. This widens the race to release a U.S. diesel hybrid to three companies: Mercedes, Ssangyong and Mahindra & Mahindra, with hybrid giant Toyota vowing to sit out the diesel-hybrid competition.