Though less bulk but still have quite a charm of a SUV to lure customer away with budget inching to 15 Lakhs. Now they are hunting down another Sedan segment in India. See the graph. Hunter Is Now Being Hunted. These vehicles have lived beyond their grave, which in India is around 6 years from launch, including mid-term facelift within 3 years. Moreover story of XUV now is more of a hunter who is now being hunted. Ones which are really heating up the competition are discussed ahead.
Current Pack. Though a segment below offering, still has power to punch above its weight. Strong engine, premium interiors and has all bells and whistles. King in its own right. Had a presence in India since as a replacement of Qualis. It made a space for itself on its own and never ever looked back. It had a very steady sales data with ever increasing price.
Crysta — the new iteration exudes more premiumness and seems to be owned largely as personal car now and fleet operators are having less affinity, due to higher pricing. Unlike its predecessor, which was loved both as personal car and premium taxi. It is quite surprising that Tata chose Aria for another round and not the Safari.
The forgotten underdog. Well Tata never did justice to the product or the brand when it was launched as new generation, on 5th January , badged as Tata Safari Storme.
Looks were kind of sissy as oppose to Hulk it used to be. And look, they even forgot to design an integrated audio system and fitted aftermarket CD player from the previous generation. They missed a huge opportunity and how! Remember how Mahindra was successfully able to pull off the same trick for Scorpio. Underpinning has undergone transformation but body shell was retained. The original Jeep, having grill design which was borrowed by Mahindra in 50s.
Now seems to be pointing in right direction for FCA. Pricing of Compass is very aggressive and its acceptance can be seen in the numbers it is doing and bookings it has garnered. Hyundai Tucson. Hyundai never had success in terms of numbers for anything priced over 15 Lakhs — Elantra, Sonata, Santa Fe. It is still finding it difficult to transgress the mental boundary created into the minds of customer to differentiate between premium tag it claims for product like SantaFe.
Right now it is an overpriced petrol-urban-soft roader. May be a diesel heart transplant in future and new design can change its fortune. New Members Joining the Pack. Soon to be launched. More premium than Duster but need to be priced right otherwise it will meet the fate of Tucson. Seems highly unlikely that it will be priced below 20 Lakh. But less likely to meet fate of Tucson as in India Skoda is still considered as premium over its parent VW brand.
It is given that success and failure will be decided in real battle ground, pre-launch assumption does not help much. Previous launch was commercial failure. Brought in as CBU it was overpriced for a car having steering wheel and power window switch from Swift.
Nifty 18, Market Watch. ET NOW. Brand Solutions. Video series featuring innovators. ET Financial Inclusion Summit. Malaria Mukt Bharat. Wealth Wise Series How they can help in wealth creation. Honouring Exemplary Boards. Deep Dive Into Cryptocurrency. ET Markets Conclave — Cryptocurrency. It has the zing to turn heads, especially when looked upon head on. The design bit is overdone in places, more evidently so around the front grille, below the headlamps and at the rear.
Those twin barrel projector headlamps look extremely well designed and go a long way in lending the XUV an air of sophistication. The array of LED lamps behind the headlamps looks nice both during the day and in the night when they are lit up in all their glory. The lower bumper and the fog lamps too have been beautifully executed. The cuts, the creases, everything looks nice, except for that overdose of the honeycomb mesh effect.
The two black faux honeycomb-mesh surfaces on the flanks of the bumper look rather unwarranted and make the front of the car look busy and overly done. In profile the XUV impresses again. The surfaces on the vehicle are quite complex and a carmaker out to build a low cost vehicle would never dare to incorporate such intricate detailing on its vehicle.
This is an indicator of the fact that the XUV is a full-fledged effort from Mahindra, a product which they have put their heart and soul into — no cutting corners here! The upper crease, however, spoils the flow as it meets the front fender and points skywards before blending with the curvature of the wheel arch. The top crease may have been left dipping, and blending into the surface just before the fender.
All is well at the rear haunches too, before a crease emanating from the tail-lamp meets them and again creates a rather unsophisticated and complex merging point of lines and curves just above the rear wheel arch.
The inexperience is even more evident as you move towards the rear of this car. It does create an impression of sturdiness and robustness though. The area below the rear windscreen again is overdone, too busy, trying too hard and failing in the process. Funny is the word. Overall, the design of the XUV still is a quantum leap for Mahindra. The panel gaps are consistent and minimal. The XUV may have its highs and lows, but it comes across as an impressive package.
The vehicle has its own character, and one it could be proud of. It will stand in company of the likes of the CR-V and Captiva with pride, and will outshine them too, for some.
Visually the interior of the XUV appears to be from a car a segment higher. The seats have generous bolstering, they are shaped well and materials such as leather, chrome and faux wood, associated with premium cars abound within the cabin.
The driver side seat is 8-way adjustable, including height, and also features lumbar support. The attention to detail and the finesse may not be comparable with the best in the business, but the first sight does leave a mighty positive impression. It was feature rich, it turns heads, has acres of space, is well-engineered, had services centers across the country and above all had an affordable price tag.
Moreover, since it is a Mahindra, you could even hand over the vehicle to roadside mechanic in case of an emergency. Today, XUV is the flagship product of Mahindra and the first choice for many who are looking for a tough looking SUV within the Rs lakh bracket. For Mahindra, which had tied up with Ford and Renault to build a world-class car, it was also the fruition of its long-standing dream. It was more sophisticated than a Scorpio, was car-like to drive, had a balanced ride and handling package, offroading capabilities and good build quality.
The design of the Mahindra XUV is based on the fastest animal on land, the cheetah. The stylish black accents bring alive the animal's unmistakable tear ducts.
The bonnet mimics its strong and slender shoulders, body lines resemble a pouncing cheetah, and door handles are paw styled. The bulge in the beltline of the rear wheel arches even resembles folded hind legs of the wild beast!
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