Ford is working on 3 new SUVs in partnership with Mahindra, and Pininfarina will be responsible for the design of these upcoming SUVs
In 2019, Mahindra & Mahindra acquired a majority stake in Ford’s Indian branch (51 per cent). The two companies are currently in a JV, under which they are co-developing new SUVs, specifically for the domestic market. A new C-SUV is already in development at the moment, which is expected to debut mid next year, with two more to follow later.
Recently, new reports have surfaced which suggest that Mahindra and Ford partnership will extend beyond just tech sharing and manufacturing. It seems like Mahindra will also help with the design of the upcoming Ford SUVs, via Pininfarina. The Mahindra group currently owns over 76 per cent stake in the Italian design firm, and we’ve already seen a few Pininfarina-designed Mahindra cars, like the Marrazo and XUV300.
The project will be managed by Ford’s corporate office in Cologne, Germany. The first of the Mahindra-Ford SUVs will be a crossover SUV (codenamed CX757), which will share its powertrains and underpinnings with the next-generation XUV500 (W601). This upcoming Ford SUV will rival the Tata Harrier and MG Hector, and is expected to be unveiled by mid-2021.
The new-gen Mahindra XUV500 is expected to be available with two engine options. The first one will be a 2.0-litre ‘mStallion’ petrol motor, and the second one is a 2.2-litre ‘mHawk’ diesel mill. The same powerplants are also present on the second-generation Thar, but we expect Mahindra to tune them differently on the XUV500, liberating more power and torque.
The second Ford SUV to be developed in partnership with Mahindra will be a Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos rival. This vehicle (codenamed BX745) will share its underpinnings with the upcoming Mahindra XUV400 (S204). It is expected to be powered by the 1.5-litre ‘mStallion’ petrol and 1.5-litre ‘mHawk’ diesel engines.
Lastly, the Ford Ecosport is also due for replacement soon, and a new-generation model is reportedly already in development. It will sport the same 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine which will soon debut on the Mahindra XUV300 Sportz. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Pininfarina will design cars for Ford. The two companies had previously collaborated to design the Ford StreetKa and Focus CC.