5-door Mahindra Thar is expected to go on sale in India in early 2023 and it will take on upcoming 5-door Jimny and Gurkha
Mahindra & Mahindra has had tremendous success with its recent launches such as the Scorpio N, Scorpio Classic and the XUV700 in the domestic market as their demand outweighs production more often than not. The homegrown SUV producer is currently working on expanding its SUV portfolio further and is developing the five-door version of the popular Thar.
The Mahindra Thar is available in its three-door form right now and the second generation was introduced a couple of years ago. The upcoming bigger version will be more practical by being more spacious as it will accommodate more occupants and thus it will appeal to a wide band of customers. The spy pictures of the five-door Mahindra Thar appear in quick succession in recent months.
It is expected to go on sale in the early parts of next year and it will compete against the forthcoming five-door Maruti Suzuki Jimny, which will debut at the 2023 Auto Expo in January and the five-door Force Gurkha. The new spy images show the rear profile and LED tail lamps of the five-door Thar clearly and it has a spare wheel mounted on the upright tailgate.
The test mule indicates that it will not have any huge visual difference compared to its three-door sibling. Mahindra could offer a bigger rear brake light with the extended wheelbase version and only a hard top option appears to be a possibility. The tall pillars and upright as well as boxy design elements evoking the vintage off-roader stance will continue.
The ladder frame chassis employed in the five-door Mahindra Thar is expected to have several commonalities with that of the Scorpio N. The front fascia does look to have air scoops on the bonnet. As for the performance, the existing 2.0-litre mStallion petrol and the 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engines will be retained.
But they could be offered in different states of tune as the five-door Thar will be heavier than the three-door model. Both six-speed manual and six-speed torque converter automatic transmissions are likely, to transfer power to a 4WD system as standard.