Mahindra to launch mini SUV in September

TUV3OO is going to challenge the Ford Ecosport in the sub-4 meter segment

In six weeks Mahindra & Mahindra, India's largest utility vehicle manufacturer, would be introducing its second all-new product when it launches the mini sports utility vehicle TUV3OO to challenge the Ford Ecosport in the sub-4 meter segment.

Built on a completely new platform, the 'battle-tank' inspired TUV3OO, has been designed and developed in-house by the company with inputs from the famed Italian design house Pininfarina. Prices of the new SUV will be disclosed during launch in September, company executives said.

The new vehicle is part of the nine product launches committed by the Mumbai-based company at the start of the year. These include three all new products and six refreshes. While the compact TUV3OO is designed for off-roading a new soft roader SUV will also be launched before the end of the year.

The TUV3OO will be manufactured at the Chakan plant in Maharashtra where M&M also produces the premium SUV XUV5OO and the pick up truck Genio. The platform will see spin-offs paving the way for further products on the same in the coming period.

Where the Bolero is targeted at the rural buyer and the XUV5OO being targeted at the city buyer, the TUV5OO will be targeting the urban buyer. Its highest selling SUV Scorpio is a hybrid with equal traction in rural and urban markets.

M&M needs new products to help break the weak sales trend it has been witnessing for several quarters. While last year M&M utility vehicle recorded a fall of 6 per cent to 206,837 units as against a growth of 5 per cent recorded by the industry, according to data supplied by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

Though M&M executives declined to share engine details of the new vehicle, being a sub-4 meter product means it will sport engines within the specified limits (less than 1.2 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel). The TUV3OO could see the debut of the compact petrol engine which M&M had spoken about.

The engine will be based on the mHawk engine architecture and will be called the mHawk80, which has been designed at the Mahindra Research Valley in Chennai.

The sub-4 meter SUV space is controlled by the Ford EcoSport selling nearly 50,000 units a year. The US car brand has a monopoly in the segment since the past two years as no other manufacturer has entered this segment. Companies like Maruti Suzuki, General Motors and Tata Motors are looking to enter this space in the coming years.

Company executives further stated that the TUV3oo will be sold in export markets as well.