Mahindra first launched the Rexton in October 2012 after Mahindra bought a majority stake in the Korean SsangYong. The Korean SUV specialist has earlier been owned by Daewoo Motors but was offloaded due to Daewoo’s internal bleeds!
Rexton has been doing decently for the company and currently have two variants on offer – RX5 & RX7. In a new word coming out from Autocar India, Mahindra is working on a new variant of Rexton which will be called as Rexton RX6.
Rexton was built on the Mercedes Benz M-Class platform and is powered by a 2.7L five cylinder turbo diesel engine, also sourced from Mercedes. While the RX5 has a 5 speed manual transmission, the RX7 has a 5 speed automatic doing the transmission duties and is also an all-wheel drive unit.
The bigger change, however is that the Rx5 has a lower state of engine tune and misses out on the features of the top end RX7 like electronically adjustable seats with memory function, electronic sunroof, automatic headlights, automatic wipers, leather upholstery and daytime running LEDs.
The new Rexton RX6 will have the same ‘lower’ engine specs figures of the RX5, that is, a power output of 162bhp and a peak torque output of 340Nm, but it will have all the additional features of the RX7. So, in essence, RX6 is the same RX5 in terms of performance and transmission but is much more loaded.
Rexton slugs it out in the D2 segment against rivals like Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and the Ford Endeavour with aggressive pricing as its USP. The Rexton RX5 is priced at Rs 18,87,337 (ex-showroom, Delhi) and the RX7 at Rs 21,10,913 (ex-showroom, Delhi), the RX6 will obviously be placed between the two models and expect prices to be around Rs 20 Lacs ex-showroom in Delhi.
Interestingly, Mahindra showcased the Rexton with a more modern 2.0L 153PS and 360Nm turbo diesel engine at the Auto Expo. However, there has been no word when will the comaony launch it here. Mahindra is consolidating their products in India by launching various new variants. The last they launched was the entry level W4 variant of XUV500.
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