Reference Auto

Mahindra and Mahindra’s rollout of global sports utility vehicle (SUV) XUV500 has seen a new Cheetah born in the Indian market, and considering the snazzy looks of the global SUV and the judicious pricing, it won’t take long for this global SUV to become the highest-selling SUV in the Mahindra stable.

Mahindra’s XUV500 has been very competitively priced. The base variant, W6, comes for around Rs 10.80 lakh, while the mid variant W8 2WD (4x2) is priced at Rs 11.95 lakh. The top-end variant W8 AWD (All-Wheel Drive) will come for Rs 12.88 lakh.

The styling of the Mahindra XUV500 has been done keeping in mind the Cheetah, which is not only agile but powerful too.

The XUV500 is propelled by a 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine that offers 140 bhp of power, 330 Nm of torque and has been mated with a 6-speed manual transmission.

The SUV can accelerate from 0 to 60 km in less than six seconds. Besides having an excellent power output and pick up, Mahindra’s new SUV is capable of a fuel economy of 15.1 km to a litre. Not bad for an SUV.

The XUV500’s front grille no doubt offers a unique visual experience.

Accessories such as LED parking lamps, projector headlamps, integrated bumpers, alloy wheels and twin-exhausts give a fillip to this unique visual appeal.

Without wasting any time, Mahindra has already started bookings at dealerships across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune, and as a start, it has received a phenomenal response of over 6,000 bookings in just a few days only.

Upbeat on the new XUV500 roll out, Anand Mahindra said, “The XUV500 is our first vehicle in the global SUV platform and is another proud moment in the automotive journey of our company. We have introduced a vehicle that delivers high technology and performance at an unbeatable price. I am sure the SUV will create a brand new category and become popular in India as well as abroad.”

The SUV will come in seven colours, namely, Volcano Black, Dolphin Grey, Moondust Silver, Opulent Purple, Amazon Green, Tuscan Red and Satin White.

The XUV500 comes with a six-inch touch screen infotainment system that includes FM, CD player with MP3 compatibility, USB and iPod connectivity as well as global positioning system or GPS.

Mahindra XUV500 has dual heating, ventilation and air conditioning or HVAC along with fully-automatic temperature control.

Other features include audio, blue sense mobile phone connectivity and cruise control buttons present on the steering wheel, voice commands, light and rain sensors, intellipark or intelligent reverse parking system along with a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Mahindra XUV500 offers a great deal of comfort in the inside, coming with leather seats, fully-foldable middle and last row seats, power adjustable and foldable outside rear view mirrors, tilt and telescopic steering and an 8-way adjustable driver's seat that comes with lumbar support.

Also, standard features include anti-lock braking system or ABS with electronic brake force distribution or EBD, six airbags (front, side and curtain) and electronic stability program or ESP.

As per initial response (6,000 bookings in just few days!), the Mahindra XUV500 seems all set to upstage the Scorpio as well as the Xylo to become Mahindra’s highest-selling SUV in India in the near to medium term.