Ford and Mahindra have jointly announced the development of an all-new mid-size SUV that will get Mahindra engines and platform
Ford and Mahindra announced their strategic alliance in 2017. Both the automobile giants have now signed a new agreement to develop an all-new SUV for the Indian and many other emerging markets around the globe. The all-new SUV will be aimed at the likes of Jeep Compass and the Tata Harrier in the Indian market and will be based on the next-gen Mahindra XUV500 platform.
Both the brands will sell the newly developed vehicle under their own badge. It will be powered by a powertrain that will be developed by Mahindra. Apart from the new vehicle, Ford will also work on an all-new telematics control unit that will be utilised by both the manufacturers in future cars.
The new telematics system is likely to offer features like live tracking of the vehicle and remote functions to operate features like climate control. With the upcoming BS-VI norms, which will be enforced in the Indian market in 2020, Mahindra will supply a new low-displacement petrol engine to Ford. The engine is currently under development and is expected to be ready by next year.
It should be noted that Ford and Mahindra will also co-develop electric vehicles. Mahindra will lead the development of electric cars while Ford will provide platforms and other essential software and hardware for the cars. Ford is responsible for supplying battery packs, powertrain system that includes electric motor and transmission, power electronics like fast DC chargers.
It is not known how similar the versions of Ford and Mahindra vehicles will be in the future. However, Ford is expected to maintain its global design and will tweak the car accordingly. Cabin features like the infotainment systems are also likely to be utterly different in badged version of the vehicles.
Mahindra announced that they are investing in all-new petrol and diesel engines that will be BS6 compliant. The same engines will also make its way to the all-new compact SUV. Both the manufacturers are expected to launch the vehicles at a highly competitive price in the market to take on the rivals.