Mahindra XUV300

National rally champion Gaurav Gill has a new ride for 2019. Is it any good?

- Sirish Chandran

EVERYBODY WANTS AN SUV. Something taller, higher, less prone to being bullied and less likely to scrape its underside over a speed breaker; something like a white Scorpio, the fastest thing on Indian roads (even faster if there’s a flag stuck to the dash). With buyers barrelling towards everything big and bad, you’d think Mahindra, an out-and-out SUV manufacturer, would have a field day. Except… no. The meat of the action is in compact SUVs: a segment where the Brezza is making hay, where Tata Motors has rediscovered respectability with the Nexon, where Ford once shone brightly, where Hyundai are readying their QXi and Jeep are still to make up their minds on the Renegade. No, we haven’t forgotten the KUV 100 and TUV 300 but they haven’t really set sales charts on fire, have they? Not since the early days of the XUV 500 have Mahindra had an SUV that can clock 10,000 units a month, and this is what their hopes are pinned on, the XUV300.

Based on the Ssangyong Tivoli

That it took so long is the surprising bit, but the good news is it’s finally happening. Tata Motors raided the Jaguar Land Rover parts bin for the Harrier and now Mahindra have leveraged the product development abilities of Ssangyong for the XUV300.

In its home market, the Ssangyong Tivoli commands 35 per cent market share and I don’t need to tell you that South Korea isn’t an easy market to make hay in. The Mahindra XUV300 uses the same X100 platform, obviously toughened up for Indian roads with the overall length trimmed to fit under four metres and take advantage of the lower excise duty for sub four-metre vehicles — the rule that has fuelled this whole craze for compact SUVs.