Compact SUV’s have become the ‘run to’ segment for car manufacturers these days. Compact SUV’s are more popular than ever and by the looks of things in the Indian automobile industry, we can confidently say that the popularity and value of compact SUV’s are only going to increase in the next few years, forcing almost all automobile manufacturers to introduce their compact SUV’s. The compact SUV was introduced to India by Renault in the form of the Duster, and was soon followed by Ford and recently, Hyundai.
Mahindra is the sole Indian Automobile manufacturer who has concentrated on SUV’s and MUV’s since the beginning and it is only fair for Mahindra to want a piece of the compact SUV action. Mahindra & Mahindra have been testing their compact SUV for a really long time now. This compact SUV, codenamed, S101 has been in the making for a long time now, and Mahindra is taking their own sweet time to test and develop the vehicle to ensure that it is ready for everything Indian roads can throw at it.
In this age of Internet media and sophisticated electronics, it is only natural for us to find spy images of a camouflaged vehicle undergoing testing, and so is the case with the Mahindra S101. Just typing the word S101 on any search engine will reveal many images and renderings of the compact SUV, and we can now say that we are really close to seeing the SUV hitting the production line.
The Mahindra S101 has been spotted while undergoing testing again, and this time in almost production ready guise, and these images have managed to reveal what no other spy image has been able to so far. When looked at closely, one would find that the S101’s rear doors’ handles are positioned oddly, in line with the windows, exactly like the Chevrolet Beat. The Chevrolet Beat has so far been the only car in India to have such door handles, and looks like the S101 will be the second. This development means that the S101 will have Quirky styling, and also low quality, plasticky, Matt-Black door handles.
There is some more news for those who have been following the journey of the S101 so far. Mahindra has registered the internet domain, ‘www.mahindraxuv100.com’. This hints right at what the S101 may be named. Yes, the Mahindra S101 might be named the ‘XUV100’
The S101 is based on a monocoque chassis construction, exactly like its elder sibling, the XUV500 and customers will be able to choose between a 1.2-litre petrol engine and a 1.5-litre diesel engine, and both will be mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. There are spy images of an Automated Manual Gearbox as well, which is expected to be sold as an option.
We are expecting the launch date of the Mahindra S101/XUV100 to be announced soon.
To read more on Mahindra S101, Click here
Also see: Mahindra S101 seen wearing production body; launch late-2015
Source: Team-BHP
