Mahindra XUV 500 is the new SUV

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Mahindra XUV 500 launched at a starting price of Rs 10.8 lakh. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India's current leader in the SUV segment on Thursday launched its new global sport utility vehicle XUV 500. The bookings for the car will begin from Saturday. This is considered as Mahindra’s most touted launch after the Xylo.

It is looked to fill the gap between the Scorpio and the premium SUV range that include the likes of the Toyota Fortuner, Chevrolet Captiva, Mitsubishi Outlander, Honda CRV. It is available in both 4x2 and 4x4 drive options. Taking the XUV500 to a global level the car will be launched in South Africa tomorrow. In the next six months, it will be launched in Australia, South and Central America, Western Europe and SAARC countries.

In India the car will initially be available in all the major metros including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. The car will be expected to compete with the likes of General Motors' Captiva and the Toyota Fortuner, which are priced at around Rs 19-20 lakh.

M&M Chief of Operations (Automotive Sector) Rajesh Jejurikar said the price of the XUV500 could be revised after three months, depending on commodity prices and other input costs.

In fact the XUV500 is looked as the mark of a new beginning from Mahindra and Mahindra. It reflects the company’s growing aspirations towards the global market. As of now the company has no sales figures to compete with and will have a wait and watch look. Officials said M&M has made arrangements for an initial production capacity of 2,000 units a month.

The XUV is also a first of its kind vehicle for Mahindra in many ways. The Mahindra XUV 500 also owns the distinction of being the country’s first indigenously developed monocoque SUV. It is also equipped with a novel transverse engine from the Mahindra. The XUV 500 is truly niche and world class and this is further exemplified in the way it was conceptualized and created. Right from ensuring the global standards, quality, technology, testing norms, regulations and emissions every aspect related to the car has not at all been comprised.

The Mahindra XUV 500 SUV will be run by a 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine and generates a maximum power of 140 bhp and a torque of 326 Nm. The M-Hawk engine is now in an east-west layout as against a north-south placement in other Mahindra vehicles. The list of first time just does not end here. The car also has a six speed manual gearbox, developed in house by Mahindra itself as is the front wheel drive transfer case. The entry level variants will be front wheel drive while another version will have an all wheel drive layout with a torque on demand mechanism also delivering drive to the rear wheels.

The front grille of the XUV 500 is also a first of its kind with projector headlamps, LED day time running lights, large front bumper with streaked air dam and recessed fog lamps make for an aggressive finish.

The car is equipped with disc brakes on all wheels. The safety is encapsulated with ABS, EBD, and ESP. The front seats have air bags. The start/stop is a standard attachment and it also has a hill descent control for the top line offering.