Thaindian News

Mumbai, Oct 7 (IANS) Automobile major Mahindra and Mahindra Friday said that it has received more than 5,000 bookings for its newly launched sports utility vehicle (SUV), the XUV500, in six days since official bookings opened.

“It is a delight for us at M&M; that the XUV500 has garnered 5,000 plus bookings in a mere six days and across only five cities,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, chief executive, automotive division, Mahindra & Mahindra, in a statement.

Bookings for the new SUV started Oct 1 across five cities of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.

The car was launched Sep 29 with an introductory price ranging from Rs.10.8 lakh to Rs.12.88 lakh (ex-showroom price Delhi).

The car has three variants, all in diesel, and offers the option of a four-wheel drive.

All the three variants of the car would be produced at the company’s Chakan plant, located on the outskirts of Pune, with an initial capacity of 2,000 units per month.

The XUV500 was developed over a period of four years at the company’s Chennai facility at a development cost of Rs.650 crore. The company also developed - at a cost of Rs.200 crore - a 2.2-litre M-Hawk engine that gives a maximum power output of 140 bhp and a 15.1 km per litre mileage for the SUV.

The engine is fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox which is also developed by Mahindra. The company is now developing an automatic transmission version for the SUV.

Mahindra officials said that the new SUV is expected to raise the company’s exports substantially, which are pegged at 2,500 units per month.