Mahindra XUV500: pricing revealed for new Indian SUV

By Anthony Crawford | June 14th, 2012

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After our recent trip to India to test-drive the Mahindra XUV500 SUV on its home soil, Mahindra has today launched the vehicle in Australia with a highly competitive pricing strategy.

The front-wheel-drive seven-seat Mahindra XUV500 luxury-spec W8 model is being offered at a drive away price of $29,900, while the all-wheel-drive version will sell for $32,900 – drive away.

Mahindra also plans to introduce a lower spec, lower priced version of the XUV500 known the ‘W6’ in several months time.

Mahindra has previously declared that the XUV500 wasn’t a competitor to China’s Great Wall X200TD SUV, which sells for $26,990 plus on-road costs.

The closest competitor to the Mahindra XUV500 turbo-diesel in Australia is the Holden Captiva7 turbo-diesel in both 2WD and AWD and priced at $35,490 and $39,490, respectively. That’s a sizeable price gap between the two brand offerings, although the Captiva does come with an automatic transmission as standard equipment.

Mahindra has launched the XUV500 with a six-speed manual only, but plans to introduce a six-speed automatic transmission into the model range anywhere from eight months to two years away.

The Mahindra XUV500 has also just been awarded a four-star safety rating from the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) scoring 26 points out of total 37. The test results were a mixed bag with the vehicle suffering a loss of structural integrity in the passenger compartment and a rupture in the fuel line, according to the ANCAP report.

The XUV500 is powered by a 103kW/330Nm 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine with direct fuel injection and variable geometry turbocharging for a combined fuel consumption of 6.7L/100km and CO2 emissions of 176 grams per kilometre.

CarAdvice has also learned from a Mahindra insider that the company is also planning on launching a twin turbo variant of the XUV500, which is likely to generate 127kW of power and 400Nm of torque, although, there is no official confirmation from Mahindra Australia at this time.

The Mahindra XUV500 comes fully loaded with features such as Italian leather upholstery, satellite-navigation with a high-resolution colour LCD touchscreen, Bluetooth phone and music streaming, LED parking lamps, tyre pressure monitor and twin exhaust tips.

Overall, it’s an attractive package with attractive pricing to boot and is sure to find favour in Australia with budget conscious buyers.

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Phunken

Good damn its ugly, taking over Ssangyong ugly stick.
Ima_Hogg

Won’t sell Australian’s would buy a Rav 4 or somthing else over this for that price. To most people they see a compact suv as a normal SUV and would rather buy that. If it was priced as the GWM SUV it would sell very well. Also nobody will buy it because it is god damn ugly.
- stranger
  
  I think u r wrong, people would definitely buy this SUV, what may be ugly to you may be a beaut to someone else.
  - Ima_Hogg
    
    Yea but still most Australians are smart and would buy somthing like an ASX or Captiva.
Mikey

I can see a booming aftermarket for new grill inserts & front bumper
Smart US

one once said that suv looks like funeral cars… after Mahindra safety assessment this could not be more from true…
- smizz uz
  
  Agreed, it couldn’t be further from the truth. SUVs have come a long way.
- Henry Toussaint
  
  This got a 4 star safety rating? that’s second from best..
  - Baji
    
    Second from best, but in this day and age, 5 stars is pretty much the standard, so 4 stars is still fairly substandard. Still, it seems indian cars hold up better in crash testing than chinese cars.
  - Smart US
    
    if u have a look at recent crash testing and how the brake pedal breaks your leg… yeah 4 stars better than 3 but ANCAP is a joke
    - Henry Toussaint
      
      True……I like your arguing!
MichaelLock

Won’t sell here in any great numbers, people love to save money but Australians are very astute when it comes to good/bad design and fashion sense in general….and this ain’t got it any of it.
- Rossie
  
  Seriously? Good design as in Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon…
  - Smart US
    
    you must be a design expert then…
- haha
  
  fashion sense…good design…australia…mate you made my day:)…
Mr Frobisher

This is a good effort from the Indians… better than the chinese offerings.
- Guest
  
  good effort.. but not good enough for 30k. they might be positioning themselves just abit too high.
- Smart US
  
  good effort is like to join golf social club and shoot every round +50…
  - tojo
    
    try saying that in a chinese accent maybe “make sense then”
    - Smart US
      
      i prefer indian “lost my elephant”
      - haha
        
        i rest my case!
- USMC
  
  i agree, the clowns on here scoff at the chinese/indian offerings but although australia has some of the best universities and access to natural resources cheaply, we still cant produce jack at anywhere near the same price point. if I were indian/chinese id have a laugh at aussies, cant do stuff all just whinge like a bunch of nancies
Shak

Well they had the ingredients for a successful SUV, but then they go and price it like that. THe thing they dont realise is any car which doesnt come from the established and trusted Germans, Koreans, Japs or locals cannot be priced in competition with them.
- Guest
  
  Only time will tell!!!!!!
- tojo
  
  looks like it is still way cheaper than the competition. like any new brand they will take time to establish and if this thing is any good it will be the testing ground.
  - Smart US
    
    a bit contradicting arent we? “cheaper than the competition” “if this thing is any good” …testing ground, hmm like in cricket???
    - haha
      
      they were price and quality arguments seperate from each other. refer to the OP the message was a reply to.
Anand

Since Mahindra is not an established brand in Australia, they should have priced it cheaper than this. A lower price tag would attract more buyers in the beginning and if the overall package is good, it will bring more customers in coming years. They can increase the price if they get established here. Building the brand in a new market is not easy as they think. They should follow what Hyundai did 10 years back and Toyota did 20 years back. The lack of an AT is going to hurt the sales so badly at this price tag. They can even bring a 5 seater version at a cheaper price. The interior colour theme is really awkward. Black alone or Grey or Beige would have been much better.
- jethro tull
  
  agree on interior colour scheme. what are they thinking on that for an ultra conservative market like oz. its got to be black or grey all the way down here. thing is for them they have had such a strong response in india, they barely have units to sell elsewhere. oz is a small market and maybe just a test market for them so they will be satisfied with what response and feedback they get. i doubt if they know nothing about brand building. they are a professionally run international company and have built their brand in various countries in the tractor and ute markets.
  - Guest
    
    Your reply/comment is the most intelligent, well thought and neutral one. I cannot agree with you any more… Well said…
Praveen

Was keenly watching the review and pricing and honestly disappointed with the price offering. It is quite high and would n’t be surprised if it fails in the Aussie market, solely because of the pricing.
Will drop my idea of having a test drive!

-Praveen
- JooberJCW
  
  Don’t let that stop you test driving it, it could just surprise you.. maybe… no loss in sitting and going for a quick spin to truly rate the car to the price tag.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=719415203 Miguel Garcia

A lower price tag would for sure attract more buyers. I reckon if they would offer it in an automatic at $26k like GW they will establish their brand in less than 12 months. People want value for money but their lack of name in this country will make it hard for us & on top of that starting with manual gear will even be harder as this vehicle is for families
Atul

I saw the hate to Indian build Mahindra from Smart US he needs urgent medical treatmet so if any doc reading this pl give him a urgent treat pl.If you dont like Mahindra dont open it mate that simple
Melbournecbd

price drops down to 24k auto trans, i will buy it then
http://twitter.com/klowik klowik

It may not be the car itself that doesn’t attract buyers. It’s people’s inner perception and predisposition towards anything from Europe/Japan/Korea are better as they have had built and established brands of excellent products. You can’t change people’s perception and feels. I think even Indian themselves would prefer (if they can afford..) e.g Toyota, HOnda, Mercedes, or Hyundai , etc. when it comes to buying a car.
- name
  
  like any brand it takes time to build a brand – in particular when you are talking about the second biggest expense for most folk. i am sure they know where they are at and what they want to achieve out of the australian market. i doubt if they are thinking of coming remotely near the numbers toyota, honda, etc sell anytime soon. the price point is good compared to the next equivalent 7 seater model. and every market has a certain percentage who are early movers and risk takers.
- Guest
  
  Agree with you on that partially. Being an Indian and driven cars in India for 27 years, I would not buy an Indian car/Chinese car or for that matter any new brand (not an established one) in Australia. Reason, because Oz roads, traffic, threats, Hazards are totally different to Indian conditions.
  
  If I were in India I would have gone with Mahindra definitely as I had driven one (Mahindra Bolero) in the past and would have avoided any German brand, toyota, HOnda etc because of running and repair costs, parts availabilities, absence of technical expertise to service and repair etc. Apart from Hyundai and Suzuki, I would not buy any foreign offering as Hyundai and Suzuki are well established in terms of reliability and reputation now. Different markets, different conditions, different requirements & tastes etc…
tom

not a bad car if theymakechanges for safety issues
- Drewst10
  
  If they make changes to the saftey issues it will certainly benefit the sales to some degree im sure. Anyone who is having a go at mahindra for only having a 4 star rating and thinks it’s not good enough, they are right up there with the new pajero and land rover which are also “only” 4 stars. I think they are in good company.
Sespra

Take a look at Mahindra’s “modern” manufacturing plant in India – it’s shocking to say the least!!
youtu.be/LtK5PQjhE9k
Asdas

you guys are whining about 30 grand being too expensive for an SUV, for sakes, laying concrete around your house will set you back around 10-15 grand. Installing refrigirated aircon to your house 9 grand plus… alfresco area to your house can be up to 20 grand….30 grand for an suv is cheap… it’s people like you that drive the economy to look overseas for even cheaper products “cheap cheap”. Ask for cheap and you’ll get rubbish. What the hell do you expect?
Just a comment

Its really hard to earn name and fame if you just got into the ring. M&M sold more vehicle than Australian population and have good reputation in Middle East (where people know about SUVs and 4WD))as well. If I live this car I will not ask for cheap price and if i want cheap i will go to local dealer and buy a cheap one, rather than ask someone to give me cheap because i can’t afford it.
Cars and Girls are same, different people different opinion its gonna be someone’s angel too.