Mahindra is now managing its own vehicle distribution in Australia, and expanding the locally-delivered product range is one of its principal priorities.
The company ended its distribution agreement with TMI Pacific around August last year and is now handling its own operations in Australia from a base in Queensland, motoring.com.au was told by the company's National Sales Manager, Russell Thiele. Now the master of its own destiny, Mahindra in Australia plans to bring in two new models within the next 12 months, says Thiele. One is a new light pick-up named the Genio (with a 1.25-tonne payload) and the other is the XUV500, an advanced SUV that is roughly the same size as Mitsubishi's Outlander.
"The Indians took over 100 per cent ownership probably around August last year," Thiele explained. "We moved the operation in June last year from Sydney up to Brisbane, to [share facilities] with the tractor division as well... so we're all under the same roof now."
According to Thiele, the seven-seat XUV500 will be launched around mid-year, but it is simply too soon to suggest even a ball-park price for the new model, although it will be highly-specified for Australia, in what Mahindra calls the 'W8' specification. There's a lower level grade named W6, and the XUV500 can be had in 2WD also, but neither sound like strong prospects for this market. Pricing is likely to be informed by the competition in Australia, including the Great Wall X240, which is very keenly priced. Clearly though, Mahindra doesn't intend for the XUV500 to sell at a bargain basement price, given Thiele's word that the vehicle will come with a reasonably high level of trim. Unlike the X240, the XUV500 owes nothing to other company's designs; the complex frontal styling is intended to resemble the visage of a Bengal Tiger, apparently.
Features expected to be available in the XUV500 for Australia include a cool box, steering wheel remote controls, climate control, adaptive cornering headlights, tyre-pressure monitoring, rain-sensing wipers/dusk-sensing headlights and reverse parking sensors.
Power comes courtesy of a 2.2-litre diesel engine developing 103kW of power and 330Nm of torque. A six-speed manual transmission coupled to the engine feeds the torque through to a four-wheel drive system and the XUV500 comes with four-wheel discs, rollover mitigation and Hill Descent Control. Built from high-strength steel in a monocoque construction the XUV500 rides on MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link independent system at the rear. In length the SUV measures 4585mm and it's 1890mm wide.
The Mahindra also embraces fuel-saving technology in the form of an auto-stop/idle system that shuts down the engine in traffic and there's a complement of six airbags (including side curtains and front/side-impact airbags) to keep the occupants safe in the event of a crash.
Currently the company has two vehicles here undergoing ADR certification and Thiele says that ANCAP testing will take place before the XUV500 reaches the public. It's a sign of confidence that the product will meet the market's expectations.
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