Mahindra previews XUV500 crossover in Rome, ahead of its European launch

The Mahindra XUV500 crossover has conquered the Indian premium SUV market, outselling C+ segment cars single handedly. Mahindra sells close to 4,000 units of the XUV500 each month and is expanding production at the Chakan manufacturing unit, off Pune. Mahindra also exports the XUV500 to South Africa and Australia. Europe is the next destination for Mahindra’s flagship crossover and Anand Mahindra, the Managing Director of the Mahindra group has unveiled the XUV500 at Rome, as a prelude to crossover’s European launch. Spain will be the first market to get this crossover.

2012 Mahindra XUV500 Crossover

The XUV500 that will be exported to Europe will feature a left hand drive layout. The crossover currently features a 2.2 Liter turbo diesel engine producing 140 Bhp of peak power and 330 Nm of peak torque. This engine, which is essentially the mHawk unit in a higher state of tune is mated to a 6 speed manual transmission. The same engine is expected to be power the Euro-spec XUV500 as well. Mahindra is also developing a petrol variant of the XUV500 meant for the export markets and this is something that is expected to find its way into Europe in the coming months.

The XUV500 is available in both front wheel and all wheel drive guises. The crossover gets a whole host of safety features like ABS, EBD, ESP, 6 Airbags, Hill hold and hill descent control. The crossover also gets disc brakes on all four wheels. All these features are the de-facto norm on most cars sold in Europe. In terms of creature comforts, leather wrapped interiors and a 6 inch touch screen center console dominates proceedings on the inside of the XUV500. Features like Bluetooth, GPS , rear parking sensors, a cooled glove box are just a few of the wide range of bells and whistles that are offered on the XUV500.

2012 Mahindra XUV500 Crossover

In the coming years, the XUV500 will get an automatic transmission option, something that many car buyers will demand in the developed markets. Also on the anvil, is a more powerful diesel version of the XUV500, in which the 2.2 Liter turbo diesel engine is expected to be available with higher power and torque figures. For the Indian market, a cut price version of the XUV500 called the W4 variant is under development, although the launch time frame is something that remains unknown at this point in time.

Source AnandMahindra on Twitter