According to a report by Autocar India, Mahindra is working on an Automatic gearbox for the XUV500 which will be launched in India sometime next year in 2015.
The automatic transmission will be a six-speed unit. Infact, it will also be used on an upcoming compact SUV of Ssangyong. The beans were spilled by Y I Lee, President and CEO of Ssangyong Motor Company. According to him, their compact SUV model is slated to hit the showroom floors by January 2015. Mahindra showed interest in the same automatic gearbox, and hence a mutual decision to share the mechanical part was taken.
Earlier, Mahindra had a partnership of sorts with an Australian company called Drivetrain Systems International (DSI). The company used to supply the automatic trannies for the Scorpio automatic model as well as some other Ssangyong models. However, Mahindra had been left to grope in the dark for an automatic transmission after DSI was taken over by Geely of China.
Interesting, there have been reports of Mahindra preparing a facelifted XUV500 which will be launched sometime early next year. So, is it safe to assume that the Autobox will feature only on the XUV500 facelift? We believe so!
Customers have had a long-standing demand for an automatic model of the XUV500. However, it has been delayed due to the above-mentioned reasons. It now seems that an automatic XUV500 could soon turn out to be a reality. This will add another facet to Mahindra’s hugely popular flagship model, the Cheetah aka XUV500, which has very recently seen an entry level W4 variant. The competition, although feeble, in the name of Aria, is also being prepared for an Automatic box as we have revealed exclusively (here)!
Also Check Out: Mahindra Declares CRUSADE! To Launch Compact SUVs Starting From 4.5 Lac & Ertiga-Rivalling MPV
