The XUV700 from the country’s largest utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra is one of the most popular SUVs in India currently. But to make it even more popular and lure in more buyers the company is planning to introduce an all-new entry-level petrol automatic variant. It has been reported by Autocar India that the company is planning to launch a new MX (E) trim which will serve the primary purpose of bridging the gap between the current entry-level MX and AX3 variants.
As of yet, there is no information on what the exact feature list will be on this new MX (E) trim will be so we will have to wait for it. It has also been reported that most likely Mahindra is also planning to introduce the automatic transmission in this new entry-level variant to make it more attainable. Currently, the XUV700 can be ordered with an automatic transmission in the AX3 specification. The addition of it to the MX grade will almost probably cut the price of the petrol-automatic models and bring in more buyers.
The company is also in the middle of the upgradation of the existing diesel and petrol engines of the XUV700. The upcoming models will be RDE compliant and will be E20 fuel ready as well. Currently the XUV700 comes powered by a 2.0-liter petrol and 2.2-liter diesel engines. The diesel engine has two levels of tune: 155 horsepower for base models and 185 horsepower for higher variants. The petrol engine produces 200 horsepower. Both engines come standard with a 6-speed manual transmission, although an optional 6-speed automatic transmission is also offered. AWD is only available on Mahindra’s top-tier diesel-auto models.
Earlier last month the company announced that the XUV700 has an order queue of almost 77,000 vehicles. The top-end AX7 and AX7L models in both petrol and diesel have the longest waiting times, up to a year and four months, just like the Scorpio. The less expensive MX and AX3 petrol variants are available in a little over two-three months. The comparable diesel models have substantially longer waiting times. The AX5 petrol and diesel sit in the middle of the waiting period lines with 5-9 months.
It also revealed that it has the highest number of reservations are for the Scorpio-N and Scorpio Classic SUVs. It stated, that the waiting time is just a little over six months for the petrol and diesel Z8L automatic models, while it is over two years for the Z8 variations for the Scorpio-N. Furthermore, the Z2 base and the Z4 second base variant both have tied for the second place with bookings over 22-23 months for each of them in both petrol as well as diesel configurations. The numbers revealed that the Scorpio Classic has a significantly shorter waiting period of between five and six months and is only offered in two configurations.
To reduce the high waiting periods, the company announced earlier this year that it wants to boost the production capacity of its popular SUVs to 6 lakh units per year by the fourth quarter of FY2024. In terms of individual models, the Thar’s production will rise from 4,000 to 6,000 units, the XUV300’s from 5,000 to 9,000 units, and the Scorpio N’s from the current 6,000 units to 10,000 units. Additionally, production of the XUV700 will increase from the current 6,000 units per month to 10,000 units per month. Mahindra will develop a monthly production capacity for its electric vehicles of 15,000 to 17,000 units, or 20–30 percent.