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For long, Mahindra had been teasing the Indian populace
with its Ingenio project - an MPV based on the Scorpio that was
being touted to be good enough to give the likes of the Toyota Innova
a run for its money. The Innova, by the way - was the spiritual
successor to the Toyota Qualis - where the story actually begins.
You see, for ages Mahindra had been providing a competitive means
for long distance travel in the form of its jeeps until Tata brought
along the Sumo. Though crude, the Sumo caught on to the people mover
mindset like a forest on fire. Toyota found a niche and brought
out the Qualis - their Sumo beater, which reigned Indian roads for
a long time. But the Indian market was maturing, and they needed
a vehicle that could do all that the Sumo and the Qualis had been
doing, but with a whole lot more style and comfort. The Innova was
born and instantly every other MPV looked like it belonged to the
stone-age.
For years Mahindra had been relying on the Commanders, Armadas
and Boleros in its fleet to fill in that space. The Scorpio was
more of a family SUV than a full-blown MPV and in a way, the onslaught
of the Innova had shown the Nasik-based manufacturer what they really
needed. Designers went to the drawing boards and started work on
what Anand Mahindra has lovingly come to call 'the great Indian
travelling machine'. Popularly code named the Ingenio, Mahindra
put the vehicle through extensive tests for an extended period of
time before they finally decided it was time to unleash their MPV
on the Indian market. The first shocker - about a month before its
launch - was the name for the MPV - Xylo. Initial reactions inspired
fear about how well India would receive such a radical name but
as time has progressed, Mahindra's faith in their market research
team has grown firmer and the Xylo has now become a household moniker.
View: Specs Ratings
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