Mahindra had bought the Korean SUV maker Ssangyong in February 2011 and created buzz in the Indian automotive industry which was still rejoicing with Tata Motors’ acquisition of the Jaguar and Land Rover. The Ssangyong Motors was facing low sales and so Mahindra needed to act quickly to stop the falling sales chart which they did. They came up with a face-lifted Rexton which was also launched in India with the Ssangyong brand name and it did sell. Now it seems Mahindra is planning to bring another vehicle from the Korean stable and this time its the Rodius.
The new Ssangyong Rodius (also called the Korando Turishmo) made its debue at the Geneva motor show in 2013. Now, recently this vehicle was spotted in the Mahindra facility with a temporary MH registration at Mumbai. Interestingly the car was without any camoflage and so the propotions of the Ssangyonyg Rodius could be checked out. This might seem odd to many but it is to be noted that while most manufacturers go with three rows of seating, the Rodius has four rows having a seating capacity of 11 people. This is something which most Indians have never seen or heard of.
The Rodius is powered by a e-XDi200, 2.0-litre diesel engine producing 155 bhp of power and can be bought in two variants- a 6-speed manual transmission or a Benz supplied 5-speed E-Tronic automatic transmission. With its massive dimensions, the Rodius offers 3,240 litres of volume for cargo. The seats of the vehicle are also designed as such that they can be folded to form tables or folded to extend the luggage space. There is also provision for the seats to be turned around for a face to face conversation. So, joint Indian families who dream of travelling together for picnic have really got good news to share.
