Everyone wants diesel Mahindra XUV500 instead of petrol version, says Mahindra MD

Dr. Pawan Goenka has just given us an indication of how poor the sales of the petrol version of the Mahindra XUV500 have been in India. Since its launch in December 2017, Mahindra has managed to sell only 45 units of the petrol powered XUV500. In contrast, over 10,000 units of the diesel powered XUV500 variants have been sold in the same time period.

This is what Dr. Pawan Goenka, the Head of Mahindra’s automotive business, had to say about the poor sales of the XUV500 Petrol.

“(Since launch,) we have sold 45 petrol XUV500, which is available easily, but everybody wants diesel.”

The Mahindra XUV500 petrol is powered by a 2.2 litre mHawk turbocharged petrol engine with 140 Bhp of peak power and 320 Nm of peak torque on tap. The power and torque figures of the XUV500 petrol are similar to those of the diesel version prior to the recent facelift. The 2.2 litre petrol engine of the XUV500 is paired to a 6 speed torque converter automatic gearbox. A front wheel drive layout is standard. The XUV500 petrol is sold in a single G variant, and is priced at Rs. 15.5 lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi. The petrol engine is available even in the facelifted version of the XUV500.

There are multiple reasons why the petrol powered XUV500 is not very popular in India. For starters, a heavy SUV such as the XUV500 takes a big hit in terms of fuel efficiency while running on petrol. This, combined with the rising fuel prices, makes the petrol variant particularly unattractive. Adding a torque converter automatic gearbox to the equation means that the already low, real time fuel efficiency of the vehicle takes a further hit. It’s not uncommon for the petrol powered XUV500 to return well under 10 Kmpl, which makes it quite expensive to run as petrol prices are now edging over Rs. 85/liter in most parts of India.

The recent facelift to the XUV500 saw Mahindra boosting the power and torque outputs of the 2.2 litre mHawk turbocharged diesel engine, which now produces 155 Bhp-360 Nm. This makes the diesel powered XUV500 more attractive than the petrol model and the sales figures confirm this. Mahindra sold 10,198 units of the diesel powered XUV500 in the last 6 months, compared to 45 units of the petrol powered variant.

Via IAB