The XUV Factor

With the XUV700, Mahindra set out to make a killer SUV at a great price. Has it succeeded?

- Pablo Chaterji

“Appa! Don’t go fast, this is not a plane and you’re not on a flight!’ When a small child’s voice yelled this at me, preceded by a loud warning chime, I am not exaggerating when I say I jumped out of my seat; only the seat belt prevented me from making further progress towards the roof. I knew that Mahindra, in the lead up to the XUV700’s launch, had teased a bunch of its new SUV’s features, and that a speed-limit warning in a loved one’s voice was one of the options. I was, however, completely unprepared for an irate preschooler to be admonishing me once I hit 120 kph, and I daresay that I would have preferred a good old repetitive beep, however annoying. Still, I can see this feature being effective – imagine recording a friend swearing at you to slow down – just as long as you know what’s coming once that needle goes north of 120.