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After months of anticipation, M&M's home-grown MPV has hit the streets. Adil Jal Darukhanawala samples the latest colt from the Mahindra stable.
The new beast in town!
There is a new animal in town and if its parentage and siblings are any indication, expect this to be an animal which could be both a beast of burden for its owner, and ferocious enough to slug it out with rivals given the legendary DNA of its maker. Yes folks Mahindra and Mahindra has, for just the second time in its history, moved into MPV space and this time round it intends to make not just a telling impact but also that the Xylo as this species is known by, is also the most accomplished automobile it has ever built. And as I can state quite emphatically, it has enough on its side to dispatch even its very high profile Scorpio stablemate into touch! If this has got your undivided attention then stay with us on this exclusive first drive of a vehicle which is sure to make waves in its segment and others straddling it from today onwards.
Model |
Price |
E2 |
Rs.6,24,500 |
E4 |
Rs.6,69,500 |
E6 |
Rs.7,32,500 |
E8 |
Rs.7,69,500 |
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The fact remains that in our Indian way of life, the words SUV and MUV are much abused terms. At best none of them are truly worthy of the SUV tag for 99.9 per cent of them do not sport four wheel drive gear and many make full use of the mistaken notion of the butch visual appeal to signify and denote these vehicles as SUVs. In the international mainstream such vehicles would have been termed soft-roaders but heck when the paying customer likes them referred to as SUVs I am sure OEMs aren't complaining. Mahindra certainly isn't, especially as it has intelligently used its Bolero UV to clearly distinguish the Scorpio as an SUV. So in all this UV - SUV perspective where does the MPV come in? Well that's a good question even if I may be asking and also attempting to answer it!
In the automotive lexicon the acronym MPV stands for multi-purpose vehicle. While there are many marques who claim to have fathered the MPV concept we shall not attempt to wade into this trap but state that this is a very practical type of vehicle which blurs the distinction between a saloon, an estate and a van. Of course van is a relative term because in the US and Japan we saw mini-vans become practical and versatile means of automotive application, embraced in droves by families, especially soccer moms. On the other hand we saw young enthusiasts take to it as their own go-anywhere mobile, adept as it was for both work and frolic while the tradesman employed it as a tool which paid him rich dividends.
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