After Quanto which failed to provide any serious threat to EcoSport, Mahindra’s next attempt at the compact SUV segment will the be S101 nano SUV! One of its mule has been snapped again by Aditya Kashyap in Bangalore and this car look tiny, real tiny!
We believe S101 will be a B-segment car which will be placed under the EcoSport. It will be placed more in the vicinity and price band of hatchbacks like i20 and Polo. From these new spyshots, it appears that Mahindra is testing its narrow lane driveability :D!
A few of these pics also have people, auto rickshaws, Honda City, motorcycle riders, all, combined tell us the same story – that the car will be very compact in dimensions.
Though the body proportions are smaller, Mahindra is expected to give it butch looks sharing a lot of cues from the flagship XUV500, albeit in smaller dimensions. The double barrel head lamps and the front radiator grille are heavily inspired from the XUV 500. In fact, there is a possibility that Mahindra may want to use the XUV brand name on it and it may call it as XUV300 or something!
The car still runs on dummy rear lamps which will be replaced with the actual production units once they are ready. S101’s interiors will feature a dashboard mounted lever, allowing the front seat to be like a bench very much like what we have seen on the Datsun Go. The rear silhouette continues to be shaped like a hatchback, lending it a WagonR-ish feel.
With an all-new 1.2L petrol engine, engineered in collaboration with SsangYong, under the watchful eyes of AVL, all we expect, is a peppy motor. The diesel duties are expected to be performed by the 1.5L diesel mill from the Quanto which is also expected to be better in performance assuming that the S101 should be lighter in weight. Remember, S101 is a monocoque design.
Mahindra will launch the S101 sometime next year from their new plant in Tamil Nadu, before which, we believe we will have the car completely busted!
Related: Citroen C4 Picasso Spied in Chennai, Yet Again With a Mahindra Connection!
Do you call Grand i10 a SUV? This car is of same proportions and should be placed near regular hatch along with i10 and not in premium hatch segment. I don’t understand why every auto site is no damn hooked onto the concept of SUV’s only from Mahindra. Look at the car, its pretty clear its not SUV, mini-SUV, a 7 seater or anything close.