In less than 48 hours from now, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) would be unveiling its most ambitious product – the XUV700 SUV. The XUV700 is expected to redefine Mahindra’s product portfolio and help the company claim back its pole position in the SUV segment.
One of the first movers in the segment, M&M over the years has built a strong SUV portfolio with pioneering products like Bolero, Scorpio, Thar and XUV500 – each targeted at different sets of customers.
The company also attempted to enter the premium SUV segment with its then South Korean subsidiary Ssangyong, with products like the Rexton and Alturas G4 SUVs. The market, however, did not respond well to a ‘premium’ Mahindra. Many other products from the company’s stable also did not find too much acceptance, including the Quanto (sub-four metre SUV), KUV100 (micro SUV), Marazzo MPV and the TUV300 compact SUV.
Eventually, M&M lost its SUV leadership to Maruti Suzuki after the market leader introduced its compact SUV Vitara Brezza in the Indian car market. To offer a perspective, in Q1 FY17, Maruti Suzuki sold 57,125 UVs, including Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, and S-Cross, which collectively accounted for 30.05% of the UV market, against M&M 27.92% in the same quarter, wherein it sold 53,082 units.
Where did M&M lose out?
Ever since, M&M has not been able to gather momentum in its SUV sales. Industry experts indicate that M&M’s SUV leadership was challenged on multiple fronts by different carmakers.
On one hand, the rise of compact SUVs such as Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon and Hyundai Venue took the market by storm, where M&M lacked strong products. Once launched, XUV300 was the only product that was able to hold its position in the segment.
On the other hand, players like Hyundai, Kia Motors and MG Motor changed the mid-size SUV segment with segment-leading features such as panoramic sunroof, voice commands, paddle shifters, large infotainment screen and premium audio speakers. In fact, bringing features such as ventilated front seats, which were mostly restricted to luxury cars, was one of the main attractions for urban SUV buyers.
Experts say M&M’s product portfolio was largely positioned as semi-urban or rural centric, which in the initial years worked for the company, but holding on to the same positioning with changing market dynamics later hurt sales of the brand.
This is the very first reason why M&M has come up with a new logo for its SUVs and will start featuring that with the XUV700.
What will the XUV700 feature?
Along with the new logo, XUV700 will be laden with many segment-first features that are expected to trickle down to future products of the company. M&M has introduced the ‘Twin Peaks’ logo to give a modern, more upmarket and new direction for the company's future product portfolio.
The XUV700 is poised to change and break the perception of the brand which is more semi-urban and rural centric to a more urban and upmarket brand.
In many firsts, XUV700 is packed with features such as flush door handles, Alexa-Powered ‘AdrenoX’ infotainment system, largest panoramic sunroof, and Sony 3D audio experience with 13 channel DSP amplifier, 12 custom design speakers, including a subwoofer.
According to the company, AdrenoX is an intelligent cockpit technology that is a gateway for the different and unique experience, which it wants to offer. The company also claimed the integrated 10.25-inch dual screens is the widest display in the segment. The SmartCore cockpit domain controller technology with the 3rd generation Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platform has been developed in collaboration with Visteon.
Additionally, under AdrenoX, Mahindra and Amazon have teamed up to deliver India’s first vehicle with Alexa built-in functionality. It connects to Alexa for hands-free access to entertainment, information, and offline vehicle control. The cockpit technology is expected to bring an immersive audio experience to its customers adopting 3D sound technology by Sony. Further, the company said AdrenoX will enhance the performance of the vehicle, including intuitive drive modes in its Diesel offerings, among other capabilities.
Apart from this, XUV700 as seen in released videos, depicts that it will house premium interiors with soft-touch material.
What is the competition like?
The XUV700 is pitted against the likes of Hyundai Alcazar, MG Hector Plus and Tata Safari. As per the company, the XUV700 will mark the beginning of the next generation of sophisticated and authentic Mahindra SUVs, which will redefine existing benchmarks and offer an adrenaline rush like never before.
The XUV700 is expected to come with a 2.0 litre turbo petrol engine and 2.2 litre turbo diesel that churns out 200 hp of peak power.
With all the information available currently, experts believe XUV700 is a complete package to lure customers and bring the lost rush at Mahindra dealerships. However, it will be largely dependent on how the company prices it. With so many options available in the market from a price range of INR 16-25 lakh, it will be interesting to see how the Mahindra management decides to price its newest product.