Lounging In The Wild

The Utilitarian Lovechild Of Eicher Motors And Polaris Industries Heads Out Camping. But There’s No Roughing Out Involved

- Christopher Chaves

It was back in mid-2015 when the covers were first pulled off the Multix in India. The product of Eicher motors and Polaris Industries had just stepped into the Indian automotive scene, not to provide prospective Alto 800 owners with an alternate option, but to cater to a rather smaller niche audience. With 172mm of ground clearance, and a loading bay area of 1918 litres, the Multix is aimed at tackling more rural, less complicated matters like transporting large agricultural equipment, heavy goods over long distances at minimal cost as well as moonlighting as a proper family car when required. It’s born to thrive in rustic places where a car is used for more things than just shop, drop people off to school, or work and on weekend getaway drives. But the one launched then was a BS-III vehicle which could not be sold in Tier III cities. Now this new BS-IV version of the Multix is out, meaning the Eicher-Polaris is now available for purchase as a personally owned vehicle in a city like Mumbai. There is one feature of the Multix that sets it apart from everything else available in the market today. You see, the Multix comes comes equipped with X-Port – a clever power takeoff point on the rear axle which can be linked to a generator to produce 3Kw of power. That’s enough electricity to power some agricultural equipment and even a small house. But what could possibly attract a city dweller to buy something that can be used to power a water pump in the event of an emergency? We decided to spend some time with it to find out just that.