Mahindra XUV500 petrol and automatic coming next year

Mahindra will be launching the XUV500 with an automatic transmission that will be launched next year. The XUV500 is also being exported and hence Mahindra will be looking at introducing a petrol variant also for the North American market. Mahindra has several plans with the XUV500, its flagship model.

The XUV500 at the moment is available with a 2.2-litre diesel engine that churns about 140bhp of power and comes mated to a six-speed manual transmission. A few months ago, Mahindra had given its SUV a facelift treatment and now it is being offered in a new top-of-the-line variant W10, which gets a lot more goodies like sunroof, keyless entry, push start and stop. The XUV500 has always been one of the most feature loaded SUV and Mahindra has further upped the ante.

The Indian utility vehicle maker had also displayed the XUV500 Hybrid at the 2014 Auto Expo, which is due to come by late 2016 or early 2017.

The specifications of the XUV500 hybrid aren’t confirmed yet, but it should get the 1.5-litre mHawk100 engine that will produce about 100bhp of power along with an electric motor, developed by Mahindra Reva.This will be priced at about INR 13-18 lakhs, similar to the currently sold XUV500. As automakers are shifting to hybrid technology globally, Mahindra could be one of the first movers to utilise it in India and make it highly affordable.

The automatic will come with a six-speed transmission and it will cost about INR 70,000 more on the road. This will be made available for W8 and W10 variants and will be coming with both two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options. The XUV500 petrol will be about a INR 80,000 cheaper and it might not be launched in India as per the current plan.

This engine is being jointly-developed by Mahindra and Ssangyong to be used by both the companies.