M&M to launch TUV 300 on 10 September

The aggressive launch plan was scheduled to push up the sales of Mahindra vehicles, which are experiencing a downturn due to  a weakness in the SUV segment.

Mahindra's sales slumped 8.47 per cent in the April-July 2015 period to 67,935 units even as utility vehicle sales in India dipped just 0.3 per cent, according to a report in The Economic Times.

The first vehicle to launch on 10 September will be the TUV300 compact SUV, regarded as the most looked-forward to SUVs of the year.

According to Mahindra, the vehicle's design took inspiration from a battle tank.

The SUV comes in a boxy design with raised shoulders, coupled with a high front nose and a flat roof. It is built on an all-new platform and will employ a new mHawk80 engine, which is expected to be an updated version of Quanto's 1.5-litre three-cylinder diesel motor.

The sub-four meter SUV will be a seven-seater having two jump seats at the back. With the lower excise duty benefit for the sub-four metre vehicles, TUV300 is priced at around Rs 7 lakh.

According to commentators, the hype around design philosophy has kept Mahindra from holding back official pictures of its latest compact SUV. The pre-launch bookings start from today.

Under the hood the SUV features the mHawk80 engine, which would be an iteration of the Quanto's 1.5-litre 3-cylinder motor. Also due the sub-4m category the diesel engine capacity will be lower than 1.5-litre.

The TUV300 sports a brand new cabin style with beige and black colour tone and chrome highlights with silver accents. The vehicle also features multi-functional steering wheel, dual-pod instrumentation cluster with chrome highlighter rings.

The TUV300 will ride on the 17-inch radials, 5-twin-spoke alloys, wrapped in 235/65 cross-section tyres.

The TUV 300 will take on the Ford EcoSport according to reports and the sub-4m compact SUV was expected to be priced aggressively against its US rival.