Mahindra XUV300 has been launched in India. It enters the sub 4 meter compact SUV segment. Claiming to be the most feature rich car in the segment, it is also the most expensive car in the segment.
It receives several first in class features. Bookings have also opened at company showrooms at a down payment of Rs.11,000. Before launch, Mahindra XUV300 got 4,000 confirmed bookings.
Ex-showroom prices start from Rs 7.9 lakhs for base petrol, and goes all the way to Rs 11.49 lakhs. Base diesel costs Rs 8.49 lakhs ex-sh while top diesel variant costs Rs 11.99, ex-sh.
But what about the on-road prices of Mahindra XUV300? Well, in spite of GST implemented, on-road prices is different in different Indian cities / states / UTs. For eg, in Pondicherry, on road prices start from Rs 8.36 lakhs, while in Bangalore on-road prices start from Rs 9.6 lakhs. Below is a detailed list of cities in India, with respective on road prices of Mahindra XUV300 petrol and diesel variants.
Mahindra XUV300 will be offered in four variants of W4, W6, W8 and W8(O). It will share design cues with the XUV500. It will boast of boomerang shaped LED Daytime Running Lamps in the front and rear, a large sun roof, roof rails, fog lamps and will sit on 17” diamond cut alloy wheels.
It also gets heated ORVMs, front parking sensors, dual zone climate control, disc brakes on all four wheels, tyre pressure monitoring system and a total of 7 airbags which are not seen on any of its competitors, either in its class or in a more elevated segment of SUVs on sale in the country.
Where dimensions are concerned, the new XUV300 stands 3,995mm in length, 1,821mm in width, 1,617mm in height and gets a 2,700mm long wheelbase. Ground clearance is at 180mm while boot space is at 265 liters. Boot space and ground clearance are lowest in the segment.
Offered in both petrol and diesel engine options, the 1.2 liter turbocharged petrol engine will be capable of 110 PS power at 5,000 rpm and 200 Nm torque at 2,000-3,500 rpm while the diesel engine will offer 115 PS power at 3,750 rpm and 300 Nm torque at 1,500-2,500 rpm. Both engines get mated to a 6 speed manual transmission. Automatic is not on offer. Petrol delivers 17 kmpl, diesel claims 20 kmpl.
Competition to the Mahindra XUV300 comes from Maruti Brezza, Tata Nexon and Ford EcoSport. Compared to the first two, which are also the best selling cars in the segment, XUV300 is priced about Rs 1.5-2 lakhs higher, while compared to EcoSport, XUV300 prices are higher by about Rs 10-15k. Nexon and Brezza monthly sales average in the 15-18k a month, while that of Ford EcoSport are at about 2k units a month.
This shows that the sub 4 meter segment has lesser demand for expensive, feature-rich cars. But at the same time, a slightly larger car – Hyundai Creta, which is from a segment above, registers 10k monthly sales. Creta is priced about 2-3 lakhs higher than the XUV300. Will Mahindra manage to attract buyers from both segments? It will be interesting to see if Mahindra XUV300 manages to change the dynamics of this segment, or not.
