Mahindra Scorpio-N - Bigger & Better

Mahindra has taken the very basics of the 20-year-old Scorpio to create a vehicle that can take its legacy into an age of electronics and connectivity. We drove the Scorpio on the highways, in the hills and on off-road tracks to discover the all-new vehicle

- Yogendra Pratap

The Scorpio is one of the biggest success stories of the Indian automotive industry and provided a very practical and affordable means of transport to lakhs of families by the means of the over eight lakh vehicles that have been sold ever since its launch 2002. From then till now, a lot has changed on the Scorpio, from the engines and engine tech, to the suspension, the interiors, and even the looks. However, what has remained the same is the body on frame construction, the longitudinal engine layout with primary driven wheels being at the rear, the seating for up to seven passengers, the side-ways opening back door, and the boxy shape.

While the boxy shape has more-or-less been camouflaged by better proportions, the rest of the things are perhaps the only ones that the new Scorpio-N has borrowed from the Scorpio. So the Scorpio-N retains the body on frame construction, the longitudinal engine layout, the seating for seven – though in a different configuration and the rear hatch which continues to be a sideways opening door without there not being the need for it. The Scorpio-N is, in essence, an all new car and if the Scorpio had been discontinued then we would have called it a huge generation change. It comes with a wheelbase that is 70mm larger, a body that is over 200mm longer and nearly 100mm wider but nearly 150mm lower. The boxy shape of the 90s has given way to racy SUV of the 21st century and though the change happened to most cars worldwide close to a couple of decades back, Scorpio has metamorphosed to its future self and chosen to co-exist.