Mahindra To Develop 4 New MPV & SUV Models

By Ganesh

Published: Saturday, February 15, 2014, 10:13 [IST]

It is no secret that Mahindra's strength lies in its traditional utility vehicles such as the Bolero & Scorpio. But the coming of popular models such as the Maruti Ertiga and Renault Duster has hurt the Indian SUV major. Mahindra calls these vehicles soft-roaders or UV-2, and the former UV-1.

To tackle these concerns Mahindra is said to have started work on a new family of soft-roaders and MPVs. Three to four of these will be developed which are intended to help Mahindra get a strong holding in the UV-2 category.

Also Read: Mahindra's Impressive Displays At Auto Expo 2014

According to the ET report, which interacted with Mahindra officials on the sidelines of the Auto Expo, the company aims to deliver quality product the very first time so as to not waste valuable time and lose the opportunity to gain an advantage over rivals.

The new vehicles will sport brand new looks and will not resemble any existing Mahindra vehicles. The new designs were reportedly approved by the management last fortnight.

According to Pawan Goenka, who spoke to ET, the new vehicles will sport a ‘flamboyant' design, much more so than European vehicles.

As for the particular new vehicles themselves, one of the MPVs will be built on the Ssangyong X100 platform, while another will be developed on the XUV500's architecture, even as a third will be an extensively updated Xylo.

The new Mahindra vehicles will enter production in the 2015-16 period.