Compact SUV have seen strong growth in the past few years, with financial year 2018 (April 2017-Februrary 2018) seeing humongous growth. The segment commands a strong fan following amongst the younger generation given their stylish looks and large seating capacity. Mahindra, which saw amazing success with its sibling the mid-sized SUV XUV500, launched XUV300 on 14th February 2019 in hopes to build capture on one of the strongest segments in market today. The company is specially interested in the success of this car as the last two compact SUVs, Nuvosport and TUV300, failed to create any waves in the market. This has resulted in the company investing a lot in the Sports UV and making sure they close all the space for loopholes. Let us analyze the vehicle and understand if it suits all the demands of its target audience.
EXTERIOR
For a vehicle that’s only 400M long, the Mahindra XUV300 is very wide, making it look a bit larger than it actually is. The front is nicely done. The Headlight-fog lamp collection is clearly picked from its sibling XUV500. Certain inspirations like that of tear lines of Cheetah’s face, seen in the flow down of the outer edges of the headlight to the fog light, do look good. However, the chrome lashing could clearly have done better, it makes the entire front end look like a product created in a lot of hurry. From the side the wheel arches look fiery with rear ends one standing out and do manage to look like the haunches of cheetah, a resemblance the SUV clearly was going for. The alloys are nicely done and do look dominating with their sharp cuts. Side look also gives you a look of how the back was sharply cut off cause of length restrictions. That does not mean that the vehicle isn’t stylish from the rear. The tail-lights with the signature ova line do look good. Unlike the front, the rear doesn’t look forcefully and quickly done. Overall the car is pretty striking. It is loud where it needs to be and sharp where required. The largeness simply adds to the on-road domination it hopes to achieve. If you pay close attention you might also notice that the car looks like n improved version of Brezza
Interior
The car’s interior is where you realize that a lot has been picked up from the vehicle’s inspiration SsangYong Tivoli. Th dashboards, steering and switchgear have been carried over. They have been placed very well in the car and the quality of the parts are so good that they do make the car more likeable. The switches in the car are all good in their place apart from the HVAC buttons in the central instruments which are exceptionally narrow that make operations difficult. Also, the red color given to them does make them look more like warning buttons than simple switches. Another drawback is that the central gear and armrest are a bit too tall. Storage space is fair. The door pockets are large enough to place water bottles. You also get a central console box, and a glovebox with a wide storage shelf above it. One also gets a backseat pockets which are basically elastic bands. They look innovative but can’t really store anything. The boot, given the length of the heavy front body, is pretty small. At a width of 1820mm the car is wider than the Brezza, EcoSport, Nexon and Creta. The rear-seat though set inwards does leave shoulder room for almost 3 people. The legroom too is ample. However, the seats aren’t as comfortable as they might ought to be, the lumbar support feels forced. Mahindra XUV300 provides a lot of equipment. The car has a dual-zone climate control, a tyer pressure monitoring system, front parking sensors, rear camera with dynamic parking line assistance, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, auto lamps and wipers, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, cruise control, heated outside mirrors, a sunroof and a twin-pod instrument cluster with a 3.5-inch screen that displays info from the trip computer, and also a tyre direction indicator that tells you which side your tyres are pointed at before you set off. Along with all of this you also get safety set-ups like 7 airbags three-point seatbelts and height-adjustable head restraints for all five passengers, Isofix mounts, ABS, ESP and hill-start assist. With al of this Mahindra has focused on things which it earlier missed. Last time round which their MPV Marazzo, the company didn’t focus much on the ergonomics but this time round they do. With a lot of attention to detail the vehicle provides a lot of comfort to the driver.
Driving
XUV 300 is currently giving two versions at launch: a 1.2-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel engine. Both the versions will have a 6-speed manual gearbox. The 1.2-litre petrol is a turbocharged version of the 1.2 unit from the KUV, while the 1.5-litre diesel is from the Marazzo. The engine in the diesel version impresses, as it did in Marazzo. There is an absence of unnecessary vibrations and while there are some sounds emitted by the engine on higher levels the notes aren’t coarse The car given an energetic ride. One of the major annoying problem of Turbo lag is very beautifully controlled with the help of the electrically controlled variable geometry turbocharger, which also performs at very low down in the revolution range. After crossing 2000 RPM, the engine sees another step-up which goes up till 3500 RPM, post that the power simply drops. The engine does rev. higher still but there’s no gain by doing so. This strong mid-range means in-gear overtaking performance is great. The gear box plays along smoothly but handling the lever travel is a bit tiring. Overall quality of the ride is great. Road imperfections have been paid attention to as the ride doesn’t seem to slow down in uneven terrains. The grip in both tyres and the suspension is great. The experience of riding the XUV300 can be both comfortable and fun.
Should I buy One
It is evident that Mahindra has invested a lot in the vehicle. They have worked on the engine, ergonomics, design and equipment. The car has paid a lot of attention on comfort and safety while keeping more than enough room for passengers and drivers. It looks dominating and provides the kind of ride one would expect from a compact-SUV. However, there are still factors to be considered. The boot is small and the buttons on the dashboard are irritating to use. The place where it does suffer the most is in lack of steering feel. The car is great but not perfect Also must be kept in mind is that it offers multiple equipment and features that most others in this segment don’t. Placed against the Vitara Brezza and EcoSport, XUV300 offers a lot. It is also a fun and light car to carry. The car is priced with the quality it provides in mind. With Rs 7.90 lakh to Rs 11.44 lakh for the petrol version and Rs 8.49 lakh to Rs 11.99 lakh for the diesel version, XUV300 provides a lot more than its charging. It is more than Brezza and closely placed against EcoSport, which will be its two principal competitors. The car range isn’t that high. It is what one can call poised
