Back in March 2014, spyshots of an interesting Mahindra mule came up across the web which had everyone questioning the car. While some said it is the next-gen Scorpio (which it clearly wasn’t) and some were as clueless as everyone else was!
That is when we speculated that the mule could be U301 which is nothing but the Next-Gen Bolero. In a new update, a similar mule has been spotted yet again by a reader of Indianautosblog.com which is more complete and gives us an interesting view.
If this is the new Bolero, it seems to be more upright and has a sharper front. It loses out on faired wheel arches and the bonnet is a little raised. Head lamp unit gets a better treatment and appears to be inspired from the XUV 500. As we have seen on the upcoming Scorpio facelift, this new Bolero may also gain some features from the XUV to give it a more upmarket feel.
Against the last spotting, this mule has got the rear bumpers and tailgate-mounted spare wheel (which is Bridgestone Dueller All Terrain). It also appears to be taller than the Tavera in one of the pics.
The most interesting bit here is that it appears to be a sub 4-meter UV and frankly this is the biggest confusion we have here. Bolero sells in hoards in semi-urban and rural areas majorly because of its spacious interiors. Otherwise, it is not the most technically supreme entry level utility vehicle! So, why would Mahindra kill one of the USP of Bolero?
If this is really sub 4-meters, the engines have to be compatible to ensure it meets the small car regulations. Hence, the 100ps 1.5L diesel engine from Quanto and the under-development 1.2L petrol engine for the S101/S102 appear to be the two best possibilities on this upcoming Mahindra UV!
This would be Mahindra’s third new compact SUV after the S101 and S102. Possibilities are aplenty. Mahindra may actually be preparing different variants of Bolero and this could be the smallest of them. Or this could be an all-new vehicle which may use a different brand name.
We know that the U301, next-gen Bolero is still a long time away and may only be launched sometime around 2016.
Related: SPIED: XUV500 Automatic Test Mule Spotted With Visual Aisin Connection; Launch Next Year
