New Mahindra Scorpio spyshots reveal likely changes

Two photographs have surfaced on the Internet of a Mahindra Scorpio wearing camouflage on its bonnet, front fenders and the tailgate, giving rise to speculation that a facelift is imminent for this burly SUV from Mahindra.

These photographs were posted on Team-BHP by one of its members and was apparently clicked on national highway NH4 near Bangalore. Mahindra has said it is not launching any all-new vehicles till 2016, but it has said there would be a refreshed Scorpio coming. A Mahindra source had told CarToq earlier that the new Scorpio could be in the market as early as April 2014 or even earlier. Also read: Mahindra confirms all-new Scorpio for 2014

However, when you look at the two spy photos, the list of changes that had been communicated to us by our source and what is visible in these photos don’t seem to add up. We had been told the new Scorpio would be longer, with a new body shell on a ladder frame chassis, and even a longer wheelbase. This, however, is the existing Scorpio with only what appear to be cosmetic changes.

The Scorpio looks like the VLX 4×4 going by the rear bumper (with the characteristic trailer hitch). What’s also visible are four parking sensors instead of the usual three that the VLX has. The rear door is fully camouflaged, but there doesn’t seem to be any change to the tail-lamps. Also the top portion of the tail-lamps has been covered over – probably for a new reflector design or inclusion of additional lights. The boot door may have some minor changes to its shape.

When viewed from the side the Scorpio appears to have the cladding from the VLX, but the step is from the lower LX variant (not integrated with the cladding and mudflap). The interesting change is to the alloy wheel design – and these appear to be larger alloys, probably 17-inch rims like that of the XUV500. The rear of the Scorpio has the trailer hook, which only the 4×4 Scorpios have, but the front wheel doesn’t appear to have the 4×4 auto-locking hub visible (those familiar with the Scorpio would easily spot this).

The headlamps appear to be dummy units sitting in place of freshly designed ones. The fender appears to have a deeper cut recess for the headlamp, which could point to a wrap-around headlamp design coming in. The bonnet too appears to have a bigger bulge on top, but retains the exposed air scoop and also appears to be a clam-shell design like the XUV500’s, overlapping the fenders. The report on Team-BHP also says that it had a camouflaged dashboard, not visible here.

So this leads to speculation that this is just an interim facelift being planned for the Scorpio, which could roll out in the next few months, or it could also be just a test mule of the Scorpio with parts for the all-new Scorpio being tested on it – like the fenders, bonnet and rear door, as well as some mechanical changes. Also read: Ownership experience, living with a Mahindra Scorpio 4×4

Source: Team-BHP