While the heavily camouflaged test mule of Mahindra Verito facelift is wandering in India. Now the company announced that it will introduce a new hatchback based on its Verito sedan four months from now in September-2012. There are also rumors that the compact sedan (CS) version of the Verito will be launched soon.
So far little is known about the hatchback as no images (spy shots) has shown on the entire web. Rather than just being announced by the Mahindra official Mr. Arun Malhotra, who is the Senior Vice-President of Sales and Customer Care, stated that “We have plans for Verito. We will launch a hatchback version of the car four months from now.” However, he also pointed out “We are known to be commercial vehicles and SUV makers. We do not have the expertise or the technology for sub-compact vehicles.”
Malhotra finally concluded that company’s Nasik plant would continue to manufacture all variants of the Verito, including the upcoming hatchback and the company aims to sell the new hatchback around 3000 units per month.
As a hatchback, the upcoming Verito hatchback will remain ambiguous on the terms of it positioning and its features. The car will have lesser boot space than its siblings and will be shorter than 4-metre in length, which will make it eligible for the tax benefits provided by the government which means that the cost of the car will decrease.
The hatchback is also expected to retain the Renault sourced K9K, 1,461cc turbo diesel engine. The tradition of Mahindra tells that the petrol version of the car may not be an option. Also the shift from petrol to diesel in the Indian car market will pursue the Mahindra to incorporate a diesel engine in the car.
When launched, the upcoming Verito hatchback will be placed in the small car segment that has tremendous competition, though the profit margin is quite high as well. Dacia Logan gave the right to French automaker Renault to build the sedan. But Mahindra bought the rights to build the sedan in India and re-launched it as Mahindra Verito which is performing quite well in the country.
So, the small car lovers could keep their fingers crossed for the launch of Mahindra’s first small car.
(Note – The actual car may differ from the model shown above)
Also see the follows –
Spied – Mahindra Verito facelift heavily camouflaged, yet again!
Spied – Mahindra Verito, could this be under 4 meters?
Spied – Mahindra Verito facelift
Mahindra Verito CS rendered image
Image Credit – IDD
