Back in 2011,
XUV500 revived Mahindra’s fortunes as it not only turned tables in its favour
but also debunked the myth that – “not many will pay near 15 lakh for a
Mahindra”! It started with bumper bookings and huge waiting periods. Flip to
2017 and it is still a very impressive seller and now with the expanded W10
range it costs many lakhs more (than 15)!
Later, over the
XUV500, Mahindra brought and placed Ssangyong Rexton which has not really
yielded them the desired dividends. The relatively unknown brand name could be
one big reason of its dismal show. And with Ssangyong in its kitty, Mahindra
does see a big scope in this segment over XUV500. So, the big news is –
according to a report from Autocar, Mahindra will be launching the next-gen
Rexton in India under its own badge.
Codenamed as Y400, it will be the
production version of the LIV-2 concept they showcased at last year’s Paris
Motor Show. Y400 will be a body-on-frame SUV almost the size of the big two –
Fortuner and Endeavour. But as you can expect, Mahindra will play the price
card and the report goes on to claim that it may undercut the Fortuners by upto
Rs 5 Lakhs!
Y400 for India may be powered by the
2.2 liter turbocharged diesel engine which develops 184 bhp of power and 420 Nm
of torque. The production version of Y400, which may or may not get the Rexton
brand, will be launched globally at the Seoul motor show in March. Mahindra’s
version of the SUV may get the XUV700 moniker to build on the already established
brand name.
XUV700 Launch
Autocar
predicts that XUV700 could be launched by December this year itself which I
believe is a little far-fetched considering the fact that there has been no
test mule that has been spotted yet. But the counter-argument is that if it
will just be a rechristened version of the Ssangyong SUV (without many
mechanical changes) it would have gone through (or is going through) all the
tests already.
Whatever it is, it is one of the most
sensible decision taken by Mahindra and we expect new details to trickle down
in the times to come!
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