It was the first time in history that a car was put up for auction online. carandbike.com proved to be the ideal platform too to make it happen. The car, as you know, was the new generation of the Mahindra Thar. With the bidding starting at ₹ 25 lakh on September 24, 2020, in a matter of 5 days there was a lot of interest generated by the auction. In 4 days, the bid reached the ₹ 1.11 crore mark and the highest bidder for this was Aakash Minda from New Delhi. All the proceedings from the Mahindra Thar #1 auction will be donated to Swades Foundation for COVID-19 relief work, which is an NGO of Mr. Minda's choosing.
Also Read: Mahindra Thar Review; Tested Off-Road Too
(The Mahindra Thar will be launched in India on October 2, 2020)
There was a tough fight till the very end as the bids were made in multiples of ₹ 25,000 and as soon as the bid hit the ₹ 1 crore mark, there was a tough fight till the auction closed at 6pm on September 29. In a matter of just a few hours, the ₹ 1.11 crore bid was placed and it was the highest one received for the Thar#1.
It doesn't come as a surprise that the Thar#1 has received so much attention and that's because the new generation has a lot to offer right from the best in features to even brand new petrol and diesel engines. And there's proof to the pudding because there were a total of 5,550 registrations made for the Thar#1 from nearly 550 locations across India.
(The winner will get his Thar with a Thar #1 badge. It will carry the serial number 1 along with the winner's initials)
Four people put in bidding amounts which were more than ₹ 1 crore while 37 bidders put in amounts more than ₹ 50 lakh. The total value of all the bids made, comes to a whopping ₹ 105 crore.
There was a lot of interest from across the country but the maximum number of bids came from Southern India, from places like Chennai, Chikmagalur, Ernakulam, Tirunelveli, Pathanamthitta and more. From the East, Mahindra had bids from Kohima, Medinipur, Bhagalpur and Jorhat. Bids from the West and North comprised of Rajkot, Ballia, Ganganagar and other places.But the highest bid finally came from the capital of India, Delhi!
(Mr. Minda from Delhi will have the option to choose the colour of the Thar and even the engine and gearbox combinations)
The Thar #1 though, will be unique, and yes very exclusive therefore. This one of its kind All-New Thar will come emblazoned with the Thar #1 badge, distinguishing the owner as the very first one. Other distinguishing features on this Thar #1 will include customised badging on the vehicle which will flaunt the owner's initials, carry serial number '1' on the decorative plate on the dashboard and leatherette seats.
The winner of the auction will get a chance whether to opt for a petrol or diesel, manual or automatic and also hard top or convertible. There will be 6 colours to choose from namely Red Rage, Napoli Black, Mystic Copper, Galaxy Grey, Rocky Beige and Aquamarine. So we wait to see what the winner's choice will be.
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