Mahindra XUV700 luxury SUV coming to the Auto Expo 2018; Toyota Fortuner challenger

Mahindra will showcase a brand new luxury SUV for the Indian market, which will be based on the latest Ssangyong Rexton. The Indian automaker will bring the SUV into India with Mahindra badging, and the all-new Toyota Fortuner rivaling SUV could be called the XUV700. It’ll sit right at the top of Mahindra’s Indian line up but is expected to be priced much cheaper than the Fortuner.

Expect prices to start from about 22 lakhs, making the new Mahindra a good 4 lakhs cheaper than the best-selling Fortuner. Mahindra is likely to launch this SUV later this year, and is expected to use the Auto Expo as an event to gauge showgoer response and build buzz around the new product.

The XUV700 will use a ladder chassis, and will be a 7 seater. It will be powered by a 2.2 liter turbocharged diesel engine with outputs of about 189 Bhp and 420 Nm. Both rear wheel drive and four wheel drive options are expected. Manual and automatic transmissions are also expected to be offered on this SUV.

It is likely to measure similar to the Rexton, at 4.85 meters in length, 1.92 meters in width, and 1.8 meters in height, and comes with a wheelbase of 2.86 meters. In terms of safety features and creature comforts, the XUV700 is expected to be the most luxurious SUV ever produced by Mahindra.

Leather seating with dashboard headliner and door trims will be the luxurious highlights of the interiors. A touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone connectivity will be offered on the center console. The rear passengers could get their own AV screen units, AC vents and arm-rests. Safety features such as airbags, ABS, EBD, traction control, ESP and hill hold assist are expected to be on offer, making the SUV quite loaded even on the safety front. Competitors to the XUV700 will include the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour.

Via ACI