Mahindra has been working on a new MPV to add to their portfolio, and a test mule of the same has been spotted in Chennai. The MPV will be replacing its Xylo, and might be called the Mahindra TUV500 as per rumours.
Mahindra has been planning to launch an MPV of its own in our market for quite some time now. While it has seen good success with its SUVs, the company wants to grab a share of the segment which currently is dominated by Toyota’s Innova. Recently, a heavily camouflaged MPV which looked like a Mahindra product was spied in Chennai. The rumours regarding Mahindra’s patent for an MPV called the TUV500 further added fuel to these images.
Though heavily camouflaged, the test mule can be seen carrying the Mahindra design language. The vertical muscular grille especially, with the claw mark chrome inserts are a tell-tale Mahindra signature. The front of the MPV looks heavily drawn from the XUV500. The curvy bonnet, the wide headlights, and the sloped windshield, all look familiar.
Moving to the sides, the vehicle sports a typical utilitarian MPV profile, with an extended roofline to better accommodate the third row of seats. The car also seems to have wide wheel arches with some detailing judging by the way the camouflage behaves around the wheels. The rear seems to be an all new design, with sleek looking wraparound tail-lights which should give the vehicle a better side profile.
The power source will reportedly be the 2.2-litre oil burner from the XUV500, which will output 140 HP of power and 330 Nm of torque. Being an MPV however, the power will most probably go to the front wheels only. The engine will be matched to 6-speed manual and automatic gearboxes. Mahindra seems to be benchmarking the MPV against the Innova.
Mahindra TUV500
– A test mule which looked like the Mahindra TUV500 MPV has been spotted on the roads of Chennai
– The MPV will replace the Mahindra Xylo
– It will most likely be powered by the same 2.2-litre engine that comes with the XUV500
– The MPV was being benchmarked against the segment leader, the Toyota Innova
Images Source – GaadiWaadi.com