At an event in Mumbai, Mahindra unveiled first official photos of the new KUV100, their upcoming compact sub 4 meter SUV. Speaking about its name, Mahindra said that the letter K stands for Kool and / or Kompact, as that is what was the first reaction of people who were shown the car. The first unit of KUV100 is already sold, and the owner is none other than Mr Keshub Mahindra, Chairman Emeritus and former Chairman of the Mahindra Group.
Designed and built for buyers in the age group of under 30 years, Mahindra says that KUV100 is the first vehicle of its kind. Though an SUV, it will be priced to rival the likes of Hyundai Grand i10, Maruti Swift, Tata Bolt, etc. Thus, it gives car buyers an option of making SUV as their first car, and not something that they would always want to upgrade after buying a hatchback as their first car.
Designed to impress the young, Mahindra also revealed that they taken inputs from their newly acquired and world famous car design firm – Pininfarina for the KUV100.
Engine Options
Mahindra KUV100 engine mFalcon
This new SUV will be powered by Mahindra’s new range of petrol and diesel engines, which they have developed in association with their South Korean subsidiary – SsangYong. Mahindra KUV100 will get new mFalcon 1.2 liter 3-cyl petrol and diesel engine options. The other family of engines are 1.5 liter and 1.6 liter. The latter has already been launched on board the SsangYong Tivoli in Europe, while the 1.5 liter family of engines is under development.
Speaking about the KUV100 engines – its petrol engine – mFalcon G80 is an all aluminum MPFI engine which generates max power of 82 hp at 5,500 rpm and a peak torque of 114 Nm at 3,500 to 3,600 rpm. The diesel engine is called mFalcon D75. It is a turbocharged common rail diesel engine that generates max power of 77 bhp at 3,750 rpm and peak torque of 190 Nm at 1,750 – 2,250 rpm. Both engines are BSIV compliant. For now, only 5 speed manual transmission developed by Aisin will be on offer; while AMT will be launched later.
Speaking about investments, this new mFalcon engine platform has been developed at an investment of INR 500 crore. Mahindra did not reveal the total investment of the KUV100 project as of now, but promised to reveal the same when the car is officially launched on 15th January 2016 at their plant in Chakan near Pune. It is from here that the car will be manufactured.
Varun Dhawan will feature in the TVC of Mahindra KUV100.
At the event, Mahindra also confirmed that the KUV100 promotions will feature Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan – a scoop which we first published a few days ago exclusively on RushLane.
Speaking about prices, we expect Mahindra KUV100 petrol variant to be priced in the range of INR 4-6 lakh, while the diesel variant can get a price tag in the range of INR 4.6 – 7.5 lakh. Exact price will be revealed on launch date next month. But, if the KUV100 has already caught your attention, you can visit a nearby Mahindra dealership and book one for yourself as bookings open tomorrow.
