At the Auto Expo 2018 Mahindra had promised us a new XUV500 by April this year, and with just a few weeks to go, we have our first taste of Mahindra’s new XUV500 sans testing camo, hot off the presses from a Team-BHP Forum thread. Taking from the images, the first thing that is apparent are the cosmetic changes to the car, which gets a new bumper and a new mesh grille and bumper design, making it look fresh and appealing. At the back, the changes are even more visible, with the XUV losing a lot of the rounded dimension that gave it presence for a flatter more minimalist design. Wrap-Around Tail-light tie the rear together, replacing the Christmas tree lights from the previous car. Add them all together and the XUV looks a little smaller than it was before seemingly so as not to overshadow the bigger Mahindra (SsangYong) Rexton coming this year.
As of now, our guess as to what new features the XUV 500 will get are undercover for now, but it is likely that the facelifted XUV will get new features to make it a segment leader. Power units are likely to be retained with the 2.2 liter turbocharged petrol and diesel engines from the mHawk family will be retained along with a 2 liter downsized mHawk unit for the National Capital Region. We also assume that Mahindra will be looking to further enhance the efficiency of their motors with more power and torque. The internet would have us believe that power figures could be as high as 170 hp with 350 Nm of torque on tap. We expect that Mahindra will carry forward the 6 speed manual and automatic gearboxes on the diesel engined models, along with front and all wheel drive layouts.
We expect that the smaller petrol XUV will also get an optional 6-speed automatic gearbox along with a front wheel drive layout. The XUV will also likely continue it’s max-seating layout with 7-seats. ABS and twin airbags will be standard on all models.
Image Source: Team-BHP
