India’s Mahindra has unveiled five new crossover series and signed a letter of intent with Volkswagen to form a strategic alliance in electric vehicles. Indian electric cars are planned to use elements of the platform developed by the German automaker. At the same time, cars with traditional internal combustion engines, which receive regular updates, remain the main products of the Indian concern.
mahindra
Frame car Mahindra Scorpio received an updated design in August – the car received new bumpers, headlights and a radiator grill. In the cabin and under the hood appeared a media system based on the Android platform – a 2.2-liter turbodiesel with 132 horsepower. The transmission is six-speed manual.
The car is offered in India in a seven-seater and a nine-seater version.
and it costs about 15 thousand dollars (900 thousand rubles). And in June, a new generation Scorpio-N was launched on the Indian market – a car with a completely redesigned design, like its predecessor, based on a strong frame with independent suspension at the front and rear axle. It is equipped with a 175-horsepower 2.2-liter turbodiesel.
Mahindra Scorpion
mahindra
The classic Mahindra SUV has already appeared in Russia under the name Mahindra Marshal: several dozen copies were assembled at the GAZ plants in 2005, but then this project was not developed.
Mahindra Alturas G4
mahindra
The Rexton SUV from the bankrupt Korean company SsangYong also got a second life in India.
A car called the Mahindra Alturas G4 rolled onto the assembly line there in 2018. Instead of an independent rear suspension in the Indian version, the SUV received a continuous axle. The power unit is a 2.2 diesel with a capacity of 181 horsepower, paired with a seven-speed automatic.
tata
Indian concern Tata owns the British brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which are also assembled in India. And under its own brand Tata produces affordable cars and compact crossovers.
The compact crossover Tata Nexon with a total length of about 4 m is proportional to the Renault Sandero Stepway hatchback, which left the Russian market. It is one of the most popular models in the local market. Nexon is equipped with a 110 horsepower 1.2-liter gasoline turbo engine or a 1.5-liter turbodiesel of the same power. The vehicle is front wheel drive only.
tata nexon
tata
In the cabin – a digital instrument cluster, a media system with navigation. In addition, the car is equipped with a voice control function and a key in the form of a bracelet – a similar option is offered for Land Rover vehicles.
In addition, in 2022, Nexon has an electric version with a power plant with 143 horsepower and a range of up to 437 km. A more affordable version of the crossover has a battery that allows you to travel 312 km on a single charge.
tata harrier
tata
The Tata Harrier crossover is built on a simplified and cheaper Jaguar Land Rover platform.
and the British Lotus Engineering were busy fine-tuning the driving performance. With a length of 4.6 m, the car is close in size to the Land Rover Discovery Sport. Instead of an independent rear suspension, it received a twist beam. The car is front-wheel drive only, under the hood there is a 140-horsepower gasoline turbo engine produced by the joint venture between Tata and Italian Fiat.
In expensive versions, the Harrier is equipped with climate control, a rear view camera and alloy wheels, as well as a Terrain Response system that allows you to choose different driving modes depending on the type of road surface.
tata altroz
tata
In the more affordable segment, Tata offers the Altroz hatchback, the first model built by Tata on an in-house developed modular platform. In terms of overall length, the Altroz fits in at 4 meters – in India such machines enjoy tax preferences. The Altroz engine is transversely located, the front suspension uses McPherson struts, and the rear is semi-independent.
The compact hatchback received an 85-horsepower naturally aspirated gasoline engine, as well as a 1.5 turbodiesel developing 90 horsepower. In the basic version for the Indian market, it is equipped with ABS, two airbags and rear parking sensors. Altroz options include a media system with a 7-inch screen and a rear view camera.
Adaptation to Russian realities
Sergey Burgazliev, an independent automotive industry consultant, believes that if Indian companies decide to supply their cars to Russia, it will take about a year to adapt their models to our conditions.
“Even looking at the Tata model range, one can get an idea of the level of the Indian auto industry – at least as good as in Brazil, and that’s close to Russia,” explains Burgazliev. To socialbites.ca.
According to him, it will take at least a year to make a test pool and adapt Indian cars to the conditions of our country, including winter and off-road tests. According to the expert, in the case of entering the Russian market, at least it will be necessary to improve the heating system, provide heating, a larger washer reservoir and crankcase protection, adaptive bearings and lubricants.
“Indians take a long time to make the decision to enter a new market like the Chinese, but if accepted, they start a large-scale promotion.
The cost of Indian cars is low due to large production volumes of domestic cars, and Russian manufacturers have something to worry about if they decide to come to Russia, ”says Burgazliev.
Cars made by Indian brands are highly specific and unlikely to be received favorably by Russian consumers, as is the case throughout Southeast Asia, Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, has his doubts.
“Mahindra once tried to enter the Russian market with an SUV, but without much success. And in terms of design, it remained essentially the same. Another category is compact cars with small engines, which are not liked in Russia. We grew out of cars of this class a long time ago, ”says Kadakov in an interview with socialbites.ca.
Potential buyers of cars like the Lada Granta will understand that in many respects, including suspension and engine characteristics, width, domestic cars will be better than Indian cars.
The expert believes. In addition, an important factor for market success is the availability of spare parts, including services, geographical location.
“Now we have a difficult situation, we are ready to give up something, but still the Russians managed to try good cars. The first stage of acquaintance with the global automotive industry has already passed. I do not see high hopes in this, as in Iranian cars,” summarized Kadakov.
Source: Gazeta
