Mahindra has officially announced the name of the S201 as XUV300 and has also partially revealed the pictures & features of the upcoming SUV
The XUV 300 is the fourth car from the manufacturer in the sub-4-meter compact SUV segment after the Quanto, NuvoSport and the TUV 300. The Mahindra XUV 300 would take on the vehicles like Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, Honda WR-V and the Tata Nexon. Now the Mahindra XUV 300 gets a host of segment-first features. Here it is how it fares against its direct competitors.
1. Mahindra XUV 300 advantages over Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza
Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza is the highest selling UV in the Indian market. The sales of the Vitara Brezza are too high for its competitors in the market. The main advantage that the Mahindra XUV 300 offers over the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza is its 7-airbags. Mahindra XUV 300 offers dual front airbags, side airbags and curtain airbags. There is an additional driver knee airbag too.
The airbags ensure the optimum safety of the occupants inside the vehicle. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, on the other hand, gets dual front airbags standard across all the variants. While they may not be much on the paper but Maruti Vitara Brezza scored 4 out of 5 stars in the Global NCAP safety tests.
There are many other advantages that the Mahindra XUV 300 would have over the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. The Mahindra XUV 300 gets dual-zone climate control, cruise control, coloured TFT driver console, a petrol engine, a more powerful diesel engine with 6-speed transmission, disc brakes on all four wheels, sunroof and more space because of a longer wheelbase and wider body.
2. Mahindra XUV 300 advantages over Ford EcoSport
The Ford EcoSport is a pretty loaded vehicle and offers features like 6 airbag system, sunroof, emergency assistance among others. Even though the XUV 300 offers similar or better options, the main advantage that the Mahindra XUV 300 has over the EcoSport is the dual-zone climate control.
While the Ford EcoSport offers a reclining rear seat reclining option but there is no rear AC vent. In the hot weather conditions like India, rear passengers feel pretty left out when the AC starts. However, the Mahindra XUV 300 offers dual-zone climate control system with rear AC vents that allows rear passengers to set their own temperature while the front passengers can get comfortable by setting their own temperature.
The Mahindra XUV 300 also gets many other extra features over the Ford EcoSport including an extra airbag, dual-zone climate control, more cabin space, torque-rich engine, disc brakes on all the four wheels and TFT coloured driver information display.
3. Mahindra XUV 300 advantages over Tata Nexon
The Tata Nexon has become extremely popular in the Indian market. The powerful petrol and diesel engine options with driving modes make the Tata Nexon a very popular car in the market. Even Mahindra XUV 300 has the highest torque-rated engine in the segment. However, the main advantage that Mahindra XUV 300 has over the Tata Nexon is the disc brakes on all four wheels.
It is a segment-first feature and will help the Mahindra XUV 300 come to stop quite quickly compared to the rivals. The disc brakes with the features like ABS and EBD would make the Mahindra XUV 300 one of the safest cars in the segment. Disc brakes dissipate heat much quicker and have a greater bite when compared to the regular drum brakes.
That not all, the Nexon misses out on a lot of features when compared to the Mahindra XUV 300. The XUV gets a list of extra features like the sunroof (Tata only offers dealership-fitted, optional sunroof), dual zone climate control (Nexon only gets AC vents in the rear), more space, TFT coloured DID, 7-airbags, more powerful diesel engine, which is expected to be same as the 1.5-litre diesel of the Marazzo. Even the petrol engine of the Mahindra XUV 300 will be more powerful than the Nexon.
4. Mahindra XUV 300 advantages over the Honda WR-V
Honda WR-V is the most popular RV model in the Indian car market. Honda sells quite a good amount of WR-V in India. Even the WR-V offers features like a sunroof and is quite spacious but the Mahindra XUV 300 offers the longest wheelbase in the segment, which translates into the largest cabin space. Honda WR-V is very spacious but the Mahindra XUV 300 would be even more spacious!
Also, the Mahindra XUV 300 offers touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CapPlay, something that is missing from the Honda WR-V. Apart from the space and the infotainment advantage, the Mahindra XUV 300 also offers a larger cabin space, disc brakes on all the four wheels, more powerful petrol and diesel engine options, dual-zone climate control and coloured TFT information display.