See Photos of the Made-in-Michigan Mahindra Marazzo

But this isn’t some quirky export vehicle to geek over.

The Marazzo marks a new generation of affordable cars from manufacturers that finally, in the year 2019, have begun to value human life in one of the world’s largest, poorest countries.

By October, India will require all new cars on sale to pass three crash tests (frontal, frontal driver's-side offset, and side) under requirements set by the United Nations.

While the government had previously mandated these tests for new cars introduced for sale by October 2017, the latest rule will force manufacturers either to refresh older models or remove them from the new-car market within months.

Prior to 2017, India, in common with many other developing nations, never set any crash-test standards. But organizations like the Global New Car Assessment Program (Global NCAP) have persuaded domestic and foreign automakers in countries including India and China to develop safer cars for these markets.

The Marazzo is the first Mahindra on record to score four stars in the Global NCAP test, which uses the same standards for cars sold in the European Union.

It's only the second Indian car to score this high, behind the five-star-rated Tata Nexon.

"We're spitting distance from five stars," Mahindra's Rick Haas told Car and Driver in Detroit.

Haas is president of Mahindra Automotive North America, a team of 425 employees spread across Auburn Hills and Troy, Michigan.

After starting in business here six years ago, the company realized Mahindra had no hope of selling its Scorpio pickup here. Haas's office instead diverted to developing next-gen delivery vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service (the contract is still out for bid) and distributing the Roxor, an updated Willys Jeep that Mahindra has licensed since World War II, to power-sports dealers.

The Marazzo is no more road legal in the U.S. than those other Mahindra products. But the panel gaps and fit are good.

The interior is well dressed for the loaded show model’s $20,000 equivalent. Base versions cost about $14,000.

With its narrow stance and smaller footprint, It’s almost like a lifted Mazda 5. Yet India hasn’t seen a car quite like it before.

The Michigan engineers completed everything except the diesel four-cylinder, the six-speed manual, and the styling collaboration between Mahindra's studio in Mumbai and Pininfarina, which is now wholly owned by Mahindra.

There is a multi-link front suspension with forged aluminum control arms and a torsion-beam rear axle.

Haas said they positioned the half-shafts directly below the shock towers to reduce torque steer; he claims the ladder frame carries a 176-pound weight penalty versus a unibody construction (it weighs approximately 3600 pounds).

Even the tires have thicker, harder sidewalls to conquer rough terrain without the need for all-wheel drive.

The Michigan office patented the Marazzo's rear air-conditioning system to conquer India's brutal summers, too.