Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday unveiled the much awaited Mahindra XUV500 in Pune. Developed completely in-house, the vehicle is its first product from its global sports utility vehicle (SUV) platform. The XUV500 will be available in three variants in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai from October 1.
Price range
The XUV500 price (ex-showroom Delhi) starts at Rs.10.8 lakh for the W6 model, Rs.11.95 lakh for the W8 2 wheel drive (2WD) model and Rs.12.88 lakh for the W8 All wheel drive (AWD) model.
It boasts a monocoque construct found only in the most modern SUVs and will be available in seven shades — Satin white, Tuscan red, Opulent purple, Amazon green, Moondust silver, Volcano black and Dolphin grey. It is powered by a 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine boasting fuel efficiency of 15.1 km a litre (ARAI certified).
The XUV500 also has a 6-inch LCD touch screen on the dashboard, DVD player, CD/MP3, FM, Bluesense technology, full i-pod connectivity and six speakers. It also has a GPS navigation system, intellipark reverse park assist system, steering mounted voice commands, cruise and audio controls. In terms of safety, there is the electronic stability program (ESP), rollover mitigation, six airbags and side impact beams, electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), hill descent control and hill hold control.
To expand market
Mahindra Group Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra said, “the launch of the XUV 500 is our strong global product proposition and is a step in our aspiration to becoming a global SUV player.''
Mr. Mahindra said that as a first in the automobile sector, the XUV 500 had about 10 per cent parts sourced globally. However, as the Tier-I suppliers increase, the localisation would be complete over time.
M&M Automotive Sector President Pawan Goenka said the company invested around Rs.650 crore in product development (excluding powertrain). The XUV500 will be launched in South Africa on September 30 followed by Australia, South and Central America, western Europe and SAARC countries over the next six months. There are no plans to launch in the U.S. The Chakan plant will start with a capacity of 2,000 units a month and this can be ramped up closer to the international launch.
