5 new Mahindra XUV500 challengers coming to India in 2018; Maruti Vitara to Ford Kuga

The Mahindra XUV500, already under pressure from the recently launched Jeep Compass, will have to fend a lot of new competition this year. Here are 5 new challengers that the flagship Mahindra will have to face in 2018.

Ford Kuga

Ford is developing a new premium, 5 seat SUV based on the Kuga. This SUV is expected to make its debut in India by the end of 2018. In terms of pricing, it’ll sit well above the Ford EcoSport, in Jeep Compass territory. This means that it’ll also rub shoulders with the XUV500 as far as positioning goes. The Kuga-based SUV is expected to be sold with both petrol and diesel engines in the Indian market. It remains to be seen if Ford also offers a four wheel drive layout on this SUV. Front wheel drive will be standard.

Tata Q501

Tata Motors is building a Hyundai Creta rival for the Indian market. Since many variants of the Creta overlap with the XUV500, the Q501 is also expected to indirectly compete with the XUV.  Code-named the Q501, this 5 seat SUV will be based on the Land Rover Freelander2 platform, and will also have a lot of inputs from British luxury maker Land Rover. It’s likely to be sold in India with turbo petrol and turbo diesel engine options. It’s already been spotted testing on Indian roads for a while now. An official launch is expected by the end of 2018.

Maruti Vitara

Maruti will bring in the Vitara SUV by the end of this year. The Vitara will be the most expensive SUV in Maruti Suzuki’s line-up. The direct competitor of the Vitara will be the Hyundai Creta but the SUV will also rival the Mahindra XUV500 due to a fair bit of price overlap. 1.6 liter petrol and turbo diesel engines are likely to be on offer. While a front wheel drive layout will be standard, Maruti may also offer the AllGrip all wheel drive layout on the vehicle.

Jeep Compass Diesel AT

Jeep will offer a 9 speed automatic gearbox on the diesel powered Compass, thus filling the current void in the SUV’s Indian line-up. The Compass Diesel AT will directly take on the Mahindra XUV500 Diesel Automatic. With 9 speeds, and a much more powerful turbo diesel engine (170 Bhp-350 Nm), the Compass is expected to be much more engaging to drive than the XUV500. If not anything, this could be the moment of truth for Mahindra, leading it to bring in the 170 Bhp-400 Nm state of tune for the XUV’s 2.2 liter mHawk turbo diesel engine.

Renault Captur AT

The Captur from Renault hasn’t really taken off in the Indian car market. Sales of the SUV are even lower than the nearly 6 year old Duster, which is at the end of its life-cycle. Renault’s urgent intervention is required, and the French automaker is likely to offer automatic gearboxes on both the petrol and diesel variants of the Captur. This should pull in some more buyers towards the Captur, but the big question is would it be enough for the SUV to get going in the Indian market.