Indian XUV, world class
Take a look at the newest baby from the house of Mahindras, and come away very impressed, because the value-for-money proposition is compelling
The largest automaker in India - yes, it's Mahindra & Mahindra these days - known so many decades for its rugged vehicles, has announced its arrival on the global stage with a very refined offering — the XUV 500.
The first thing that goes for the Five Double O, as the automaker prefers to call it, is its killer pricing. You can almost feel the unease at TaMo.
Coming to the soft-roader, the fascia melds forms and lines that seem inspired by peers — such as the honeycombs of the Range Rover, and the profiles are reminiscent of the Toyota RAV with some touches of the Suzuki Vitara and a dash of the Honda CR-V.
But cut to the chase, it's certainly the best quality statement coming from a completely homegrown automaker — 90% of the vehicle is tooled out of India, though the experiential touches of Ssangyong are only to be expected.
The monocoque body construction is Mahindras' first attempt and they come out with honours on this score. So confident is the company that it'll launch the vehicle in Johannesburg today - something that no Indian automaker has done. The XUV has been tested for nearly 24 lakh kilometres and went through 250 prototypes before being productised. The Rs 650 crore bill for the development of the vehicle seems frugal R&D considering what global carmakers plonk to come up with similar stuff. The amortisation cycle, therefore, should be shorter if the vehicle sells well — investors please note.
The exterior
The grille is an exaggeration of honeycombs, bumper and streaked air dam, while LED daytime running lights and recessed foglamps give it a feel of those premium uvees.
The most prosaic part, perhaps, is the five-spoke 17-incher alloys, and that says a lot. The amalgam of design ideas lend a character that can be called XUV's own.
Muscular shoulder lines sweep past the sides, with overstated double arches looming over gapped-up rear wheels. Tail-lamp clusters are snug, while double-smiley tailgates are a deft touch, anchored by twin exhausts with oval tips. Indeed, quite a sporty-stanced package that's about 15 cms bigger than the Scorpio.
The interior
For its price, the XUV 500 comes with a lot of bells & whistles and exceptional form and finish. The plastic shutlines are perfectly slim, accurately moulded, which is great. At first glance, the interiors bare the biggest leap the Mahindras have made to date.
The central console is topnotch, crested with a 6-inch, high-resolution LCD that's a touchsreen infotainment and navigation system, with voice control. For addicts of Apple's thingamajigs, the system is compatible. For others, there is the USB and AUX-In. A laptop storage compartment is also integrated into the glovebox.
The sporty twin-pod instrument cluster under the arched dash is very retro yet elegant — it takes you back to the days of the Pontiacs, and offers a contrasting medley to the digital readouts elsewhere.
Like premium SUVs, the Five Double O also has front airbags, side curtain airbags in the top variants, and standard ABS, EBD and ESP. Then there are electronically adjustable rearview mirrors and a nifty headliner package with goggle box rimming the inside rearview mirror. The colour theme is perhaps the only place where the company could have given choices — it's reminiscent of the Tata Aria - what with its black and cherry/raspberry combination.
The steering-mounted controls for music and phone calls, like the central console, are ergonomically placed. The XUV is expected to seat 6 comfortably though the third row seems cramped. Bootspace gets exponentially enlarged, thanks to foldable second and third rows.
Performance
The Five Double O comes in two and all-wheel drive options, manual and automatic, powered by the tested Scorpio mHawk engines. The vehicle is not very different from the Tata Aria — be it the four-wheel or two-wheel drive, and the Skoda Yeti, unleashing 140 horses and a surprisingly strong 330 Newton meters of peak torque.
There is also hill-descent control and hill hold, just in case you intend to strew gravel by offroading.
The speedo needle touches 60 km from a standing start in 5.4 seconds, so should nose 100 in about 9 seconds. The engine, unlike other Mahindra vehicles, is laid transverse, or east-west, than north-south and sounds surprisingly refined compared with the Scorpio. The gearshift is smoother too, with a dogleg reverse, but it hasn't reached the maturity of SUVs like the CR-V, but it's getting there, according to those who got a first drive. The engine thrum is subdued, and overall sound damping much better than the Scorpio.
Verdict
This is clearly a compelling value-for-money proposition. The base model would cost somewhere around Rs 12.5 lakh on road in Mumbai and the top variant around Rs 15 lakh. At that price, and for its features and size, the sole competition in sight is the Tata Aria. These two are the only vehicles posited between the Scorpio class (if you omit the Toyota Innova, that is) and the premium SUVs such as the Toyota Fortuner, Chevrolet Captiva and above. Indeed, they have created an aspirational niche for those currently cruising in the B and C-sizers. Come to think of it, isn't it interesting that the No. 1 and No.2 domestic automakers are slugging it out to woo upgraders?
Take a look at the newest baby from the house of Mahindras, and come away very impressed, because the value-for-money proposition is compelling
The largest automaker in India - yes, it's Mahindra & Mahindra these days - known so many decades for its rugged vehicles, has announced its arrival on the global stage with a very refined offering — the XUV 500.
The first thing that goes for the Five Double O, as the automaker prefers to call it, is its killer pricing. You can almost feel the unease at TaMo.
Coming to the soft-roader, the fascia melds forms and lines that seem inspired by peers — such as the honeycombs of the Range Rover, and the profiles are reminiscent of the Toyota RAV with some touches of the Suzuki Vitara and a dash of the Honda CR-V.
But cut to the chase, it's certainly the best quality statement coming from a completely homegrown automaker — 90% of the vehicle is tooled out of India, though the experiential touches of Ssangyong are only to be expected.
The monocoque body construction is Mahindras' first attempt and they come out with honours on this score. So confident is the company that it'll launch the vehicle in Johannesburg today - something that no Indian automaker has done. The XUV has been tested for nearly 24 lakh kilometres and went through 250 prototypes before being productised. The Rs 650 crore bill for the development of the vehicle seems frugal R&D considering what global carmakers plonk to come up with similar stuff. The amortisation cycle, therefore, should be shorter if the vehicle sells well — investors please note.
The exterior
The grille is an exaggeration of honeycombs, bumper and streaked air dam, while LED daytime running lights and recessed foglamps give it a feel of those premium uvees.
The most prosaic part, perhaps, is the five-spoke 17-incher alloys, and that says a lot. The amalgam of design ideas lend a character that can be called XUV's own.
Muscular shoulder lines sweep past the sides, with overstated double arches looming over gapped-up rear wheels. Tail-lamp clusters are snug, while double-smiley tailgates are a deft touch, anchored by twin exhausts with oval tips. Indeed, quite a sporty-stanced package that's about 15 cms bigger than the Scorpio.
The interior
For its price, the XUV 500 comes with a lot of bells & whistles and exceptional form and finish. The plastic shutlines are perfectly slim, accurately moulded, which is great. At first glance, the interiors bare the biggest leap the Mahindras have made to date.
The central console is topnotch, crested with a 6-inch, high-resolution LCD that's a touchsreen infotainment and navigation system, with voice control. For addicts of Apple's thingamajigs, the system is compatible. For others, there is the USB and AUX-In. A laptop storage compartment is also integrated into the glovebox.
The sporty twin-pod instrument cluster under the arched dash is very retro yet elegant — it takes you back to the days of the Pontiacs, and offers a contrasting medley to the digital readouts elsewhere.
Like premium SUVs, the Five Double O also has front airbags, side curtain airbags in the top variants, and standard ABS, EBD and ESP. Then there are electronically adjustable rearview mirrors and a nifty headliner package with goggle box rimming the inside rearview mirror. The colour theme is perhaps the only place where the company could have given choices — it's reminiscent of the Tata Aria - what with its black and cherry/raspberry combination.
The steering-mounted controls for music and phone calls, like the central console, are ergonomically placed. The XUV is expected to seat 6 comfortably though the third row seems cramped. Bootspace gets exponentially enlarged, thanks to foldable second and third rows.
Performance
The Five Double O comes in two and all-wheel drive options, manual and automatic, powered by the tested Scorpio mHawk engines. The vehicle is not very different from the Tata Aria — be it the four-wheel or two-wheel drive, and the Skoda Yeti, unleashing 140 horses and a surprisingly strong 330 Newton meters of peak torque.
There is also hill-descent control and hill hold, just in case you intend to strew gravel by offroading.
The speedo needle touches 60 km from a standing start in 5.4 seconds, so should nose 100 in about 9 seconds. The engine, unlike other Mahindra vehicles, is laid transverse, or east-west, than north-south and sounds surprisingly refined compared with the Scorpio. The gearshift is smoother too, with a dogleg reverse, but it hasn't reached the maturity of SUVs like the CR-V, but it's getting there, according to those who got a first drive. The engine thrum is subdued, and overall sound damping much better than the Scorpio.
Verdict
This is clearly a compelling value-for-money proposition. The base model would cost somewhere around Rs 12.5 lakh on road in Mumbai and the top variant around Rs 15 lakh. At that price, and for its features and size, the sole competition in sight is the Tata Aria. These two are the only vehicles posited between the Scorpio class (if you omit the Toyota Innova, that is) and the premium SUVs such as the Toyota Fortuner, Chevrolet Captiva and above. Indeed, they have created an aspirational niche for those currently cruising in the B and C-sizers. Come to think of it, isn't it interesting that the No. 1 and No.2 domestic automakers are slugging it out to woo upgraders?
ausam car i liked it
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