Force Gurkha is pitted as a lifestyle off-roader, a segment that is currently growing steadily
Force Gurkha is in a weird state of existence right now. It is only offered with a 3-door version and just one variant named 4X4. That one variant gets a single engine option and 5-speed manual gearbox. It doesn’t get a petrol engine or an automatic transmission. It also doesn’t get a convertible roof option.
Mahindra Thar gets all of the above and a lot more. First, Thar is manufactured by a leading PV manufacturer and is a well-sorted product. It is the product that made the lifestyle off-roader segment popular again. Thar offers all these benefits. But Force Motors tries to counter Thar with a more practical version of the Gurkha by giving it 5 doors.
Force Gurkha 5 Door 9 Seat SUV Spied
The 3-Door Gurkha measures 4116mm in length, 1812mm in width, and stands tall at 2075mm. It has a wheelbase of 2400mm which provides a very good break-over angle and is 205mm high off the ground. Upcoming Gurkha 5-Door to be longer to accommodate another row of seating.
Width is also likely to increase as top-spec 5-Door version gets larger fenders with larger 255/60-R18 tyres shod on 18” alloy wheels. While lower-spec variants might get smaller steel wheels as seen in the new spy shots. Gurkha 5-Door was spied before too, but that test mule had captain seats in the third row.
But new spy shots reveal side-facing jump seats. These are not single jump seats found on Bolero Neo. Rather, these are double seats like we saw with the 9-seater Bolero Neo Plus. On the outside, it gets circular LED DRLs around the headlights, G-Class-inspired bonnet-mounted indicators, boot-mounted spare wheel, rear washer-wiper, a snorkel, roof-mounted carrier, and more.
On the inside though, Gurkha feels a tad rudimentary when compared to the Thar. It gets powered windows on the front. It also gets an aftermarket Kenwood infotainment system with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, and not a lot more. The 2.6L turbo-diesel engine displaces 2596cc developing 90bhp at 3200 RPM and 250 Nm at 1400 RPM. This is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox and a 4X4 transfer case with high and low range ratios.
Launch & Competition
Known as the ‘Desi G-Wagon’, Force Gurkha 3-Door was launched in September 2021 at Rs 13.59 Lakh. Fast forwarding to 2022, Force motors hiked the price of the Gurkha by Rs 51,000 in January 2022 to Rs 14.10 lakh. Even though it is very uncommon for manufacturers to hike the price of their products so early after a very recent price hike, Force Motors hiked the price again in April by Rs 39,000 taking the price to Rs 14.49 lakh. We expect Gurkha 5-Door to be priced around a lakh more than the 3-door model.
Force Gurkha 5-Door will compete with upcoming 5-Door Thar and 5-Door Jimny. Force will be launching Gurkha 5-Door before Thar 5-Door. The SUV already looks production ready and we can expect launch in coming months. But will it suffice to draw customers who want a 5-Door lifestyle off-roader? Only time will tell.
