Mahindra will launch the G4 Ssangyong Rexton in India during the festive season of 2018. The luxury SUV will be rebranded as a Mahindra, and the XUV700 name could be used for the Indian market. The XUV700 will arrive in India through the completely knocked down (CKD) kit route from South Korea.
Mahindra’s Chakan factory will assemble the CKD kits to finished SUVs. The XUV700 will be sold as a diesel-only luxury SUV on the Indian market. In India, the XUV700 is likely to be positioned as a cheaper alternative to the likes of the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour luxury SUVs.
We expect Mahindra to undercut both the Fortuner and Endeavour by about 10 % at least. What this means is that the XUV700 could start from Rs. 22 lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi. The SUV will be powered by a 2.2 litre-4 cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with 178 Bhp of peak power and 420 Nm of peak torque.
A 7 speed automatic gearbox sourced from Mercedes Benz is expected to be standard on the SUV. A manual gearbox is unlikely to be offered. Mahindra is expected to sell the XUV700 in rear wheel drive and four wheel drive trims. More details regarding the mechanicals of the SUV will be revealed in the coming months.
The XUV700 is a large SUV with capacity to seat 7 adults. Dimensionally, it’s larger than the Toyota Fortuner, which means that it should have great street presence. What we can also be sure of is the fact that it will be the most feature-rich vehicle that Mahindra has ever sold.
Some notable features on the new SUV include leather seats for all 7 passengers, powered front seats with ventilation, dual zone climate control, 9 airbags, ABS, EBD, ESP, Traction Control, an electric sunroof, GPS navigation, an 8 inch infotainment touchscreen based system with smartphone connectivity, HID headlamps, cruise control and LED DRLs, automatic headlamps and rain sensing wipers.
[“Source-cartoq”]