Mahindra XUV700 fire: Company alleges tampering with original wiring

In its response to reports of the XUV700 fire incident, sports utility vehicle (SUV) maker Mahindra issued a statement and claimed that its investigation shows that original wiring of the SUV was tampered with to install electrical accessories.

On May 21, the owner of a Mahindra XUV700SUV had tweeted that the SUV had caught fire while he was driving it on the Jaipur national highway, along with pictures and videos of the car. According to the details shared, the man was travelling on the Jaipur highway with his family, when the SUV burst into flames without any indication of overheating or any other malfunction.

The visuals of the burning car had gone viral on social media.  On May 22, Mahindra issued an official statement on the matter after conducting its preliminary investigation.

In its official statement, Mahindra has claimed that the original wiring of the SUV was tampered with to install aftermarket electrical accessories. The SUV maker said that its field service agents had reached out to the owner of the XUV 700 and an investigation is ongoing to find out how the fire started. “Our initial findings suggest that the factory fitted/original wiring has been tampered with, to accommodate after-market electrical accessories, which could have led to the incident,” Mahindra said in the statement.  The investigation determines that this could be the main cause behind the flagship SUV going up in flames without any warning

The owner of the XUV700 has not made any statement regarding any modifications that were made to the SUV. However, tampering with a vehicle’s factory-fitted wiring is ill-advised as the vehicle becomes prone to fire from a number of factors such as malfunctioning electrical parts, fuel leaks, and friction from sensitive components.