The Indian automaker’s new compact SUV has been sent to Spain. It’ll come with the same engine as the Quanto, mated to an AMT and an MT.
Mahindra will be launching two new SUVs in 2016. The S101/102 will be based on a monocoque chassis and will be targeted at the urban market. The U301 will be underpinned on the same ladder-frame chassis as the Scorpio and it will be positioned in the rural markets as a mini-Bolero. The U301 will be launched in cities too, of course. Talking about the U301 here, the vehicle will come loaded with all basic features and it is also being developed to give more comfort. Mahindra has now started exporting some units of the U310 to Spain, most probably for testing purposes as it will be a global product.
The Mahindra U301 SUV will be available as a 7-seater vehicle. ABS will be standard on every variant of the car. 2WD will be there and 4WD variants will be launched at a later date. The U301 will be offered in four variants – SLE, SLX, ZLX and ZLX+. The vehicle will make use of the same 1.5-litre diesel engine that also powers the Quanto. The engine will be mated to a 5-speed manual transmission while an AMT gearbox will also be made available right from launch. Features like automatic climate control will be skipped in the U301. However, it will come with a touchscreen audio system offering USB, aux-in and Bluetooth.
Mahindra will also offer a multi-function steering wheel in the SUV. A multi-information display will also be offered. The Bolero has always been selling in very good numbers every month. But, the current model is very crude and urban customers do not fancy the vehicle at all. With the new models coming in, Mahindra might satisfy both rural as well as urban customers, while also capitalising on the Bolero brand name.
The vehicles that are being exported are costing Rs. 6.02 for the base variant, Rs. 6.65 for the mid variant and Rs. 7.45 for the top variants. The pricing does seem attractive for a 7-seater and it would be quite a value-for-money offering if Mahindra actually launches the SUV at this price.
Source – Zauba.com