Mahindra Roxor – Rugged and Reborn

Article: Javed Ali Khan

Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA) had conceived, designed, and engineered an ‘out and out’ off-road vehicle for the American market but ‘Roxor’ had to face heat when Jeep came up with a lawsuit. As per Jeep, the ‘Roxor’ had a resemblance to their very successful Wrangler SUV and this resulted in a ban on the sale of Roxor in the USA by Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

Today in 2021, post the above-mentioned Fiasco, MANA has finally announced the launch of ‘All New’ Roxor which is redesigned, has a strong boxed steel frame, steel body, 2.5L turbo diesel engine by Mahindra. As per MANA, it is a perfect machine for farmers, ranchers, outdoor enthusiasts, and rural property owners.

Although, Roxor has 75’’ of height, 148’’ of length, and a wheelbase of 96’’ but still the vehicle looks quite rugged and strong. The Roxor has enough juice in it as it has a towing capacity of 3490 lbs which is the result of the 2.5L turbo diesel engine, pumping 144 lb-ft of torque.  Roxor is available in two models, the Base model which starts at 18899 dollars, and the All-Weather model which starts at 26299 dollars with the scope of customization from the options available on the Roxor website.

As per Mr. Viren Popli, President and CEO, Mahindra Ag North America and Mahindra Automotive North America, “The ROXOR brand has built a passionate following with off-road enthusiasts and rural lifestyle customers. We are excited to bring this unique SXS back into the market. We are redefining the SXS category with this strong and rugged machine. It is designed and built for reliability and performance that will exceed customer expectations.”

In the future Roxor may get introduced in the Canadian market as MANA has kept a tab for the same on their Roxor US website.

 

Mahindra S210 named ‘XUV 3oo’ – launch in Feb 2019

By Admin

Pictures: Mahindra

Mahindra has named S210 as ‘XUV3oo’ – pronounced as XUV, 3 double ‘Oh’ and with this, company has entered the very successful – ‘sub 4 metre’ – sub-compact SUV segment of Indian automobile market. Although earlier, Mahindra had launched Quanto which was later renamed as NuvoSport with an aim of achieving success like Ecosport did for Ford India.

    
The upcoming, all new, ‘XUV3oo’ will be pitched against the very successful Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford Ecosport and the Tata’s Nexon which recently achieved NCAP 4 star for adult safety and 3-star rating in child occupancy protection. XUV3oo is based on SsangYong Tivoli platform which has received multiple safety and ergonomic awards including a Grade 1 safety award from the 2015 KNCAP (Korean New Car Assessment Program), automotive safety test.

Indeed, XUV3oo resembles SsangYong Tivoli but the overall look and appearance is based on XUV5oo cheetah inspired design especially the headlamps, the fog lamps and wheel arches. The SUV will also boast of dual LED DRLs and LED tail lamps giving it a bold and charismatic road presence and yes one has to appreciate that boomerang effect to the DRLs at the front makes you stop doing everything and look at XUV3oo with deep breath.

XUV3oo will have – first in its class – dual zone FATC (Fully Automatic Temperature Control), all four disk brakes and seven airbags. The SUV will have a – expected – 1.2-litre petrol motor and the 1.5-litre diesel motor linked to 6-speed gear box and will have highest torque in its segment, as shared by the Mahindra team.

The interior straightway looks rich with premium upholstery and a touch screen infotainment system making driving surely a pleasure. The car also has ESP, ABS, cruise control apart from air bags as safety features. Not to forget, it will even have an option of Sun-roof but will be launched without an automatic transmission.

The car will be sold through the mainstream Mahindra showroom and not from premium store in store showroom specifically meant for selling Alturas G4. Mahindra, currently, is also working on the electric version of XUV3oo which will be out in 2020.


The sub compact SUV will be built in Nasik plant, will be available both in petrol and diesel and will be available in the Indian market in the first half of 2019.

Mahindra U321 named ‘Marazzo’, to launched before Diwali, 2018

By Admin

Pictures: Mahindra Automotive

A re-tweet from Mr. Anand Mahindra on 28th July was more than enough for everyone to sit back and be ready for what was called as ‘Name-Revealing’ event or should we say ‘NamKaran’ of to be launched MPV which was code named U321. As per the tweet the event was to be held on 31st of July and it happened as planned.

Mahindra Automotive revealed the name of its soon-to-be-launched MPV which in Basque – a sub language of Spanish – means Shark. Scorpio, Bolero, Quanto Verito etc. all of them have letter ‘O’ as the end except Thar. So, it was expected that Mahindra would come up with a name which has ‘O’ at the last letter of the name and that has happened here too. Mahindra has named U321 as ‘MARAZZO’.

The name means shark and the similarity between car and shark is not upto the name but many design aspects of Marazzo are ‘Shark Inspired’. Mahindra while developing Marazzo has involved The Mahindra Design Studio and Italian design house Pininfarina. The ‘Shark Inspired’ Marazzo has a very aggressive but distinctive front frill which reflects the teeth of Shark. This makes the MPV very aggressive but in a beautiful manner. The tail light completely looks like the tail of a shark and that small antenna literally resembles a sharks fin.

The engine is new and will be efficient, robust and most importantly affordable to maintain. It is nothing what we have seen in the past in other Mahindra products. We expect it to be a 1500cc diesel engine initially. Also, the air-conditioning at the rear is not only ‘first in the segment’ but also ‘first in the industry’ which is based on ‘Surround Cool Technology’.

The interior, though an outline was shared, looks smooth and clean. The dashboard, the instrument cluster, the seats and design completely reflect the work which went behind the MPV by Mahindra Design Studio and Pininfarina. The expected date of launch is before Diwali this year i.e. 2018.  Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, M&M Ltd. said, ‘Marazzo is a brand new platform and is not a carry over from any existing product, Marazzo will not replace any of the existing product and it will fit into the current market very feasibly.

As per Mr. Goenka, 3 cars will be launched this year out of which 2 will launch before Diwali and one after Diwali. Also, the product to be launched after Diwali will be a premium product, namely G4 Rexton, which will be based and will be in direct competition with types of  Maruti Suzuki Nexa premium outlets.

Jawa – Pictures of Test Mule

By Admin

Pictures: Shared via Whatsapp

 

With all the buzz going around for #JawaMotorcycles yet to be launched product, things got a bit more exciting on 31st of October, 2018 when someone circulated pictures of the Test Mule of the Jawa motorcycle which has been registered in Maharashtra. This is normal as the 293cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled DOHC motored motorcycle is going to be launched in Mumbai on 15th November, 2018.

If we are correct then the fully camouflaged motorcycle was being driven to Mumbai, where it will be showcased for the very first time, from Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh where it is being manufactured. Recently, Mahindra had shared the glimpse of the all new engine in a media event which filled the market and the lovers of Jawa with excitement.

Mahindra is trying hard to keep the price of the final product as competitive as possible and take a bite into #RoyalEnfield’s current market share. It should be noted that in the two wheeler market Mahindra has not been that successful with products like Mojo, Gusto etc.

We are eagerly waiting for the launch of the motorcycle and hope that Mahindra will bring back the magic of Jawa which would eventually give a breath of fresh air to Mahindra Two Wheeler’s segment.