2020 Mahindra Thar Spied Again With Front-facing Rear Seats

Modified On Aug 15, 2020 02:15 PM By Rohit for Mahindra Thar

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The new Thar is finally slated to be unveiled on August 15

Update: The new Mahindra Thar has been unveiled and it gets a lot of new features for the first time. Read all about it here.

The Thar is seen with front-facing rear seats with adjustable headrests.
The test mule spied also has a roof-mounted speaker at the rear.
Mahindra will offer the new Thar with both petrol and diesel engines.
Likely to feature auto AC, cruise control and touchscreen system.
It will also get the option of a hard-top from the factory for the first time.
The new Thar is expected to go on sale in early October.
Prices are expected to begin from Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom).

Mahindra recently announced that the second-gen Thar will be revealed on August 15. It’s almost fitting that we now have some more spy shots of the SUV before its long-awaited unveil, this time caught testing in Bengaluru. The carmaker is expected to launch the new Thar in early October.

The latest snaps reveal the blue shade of the upcoming Thar. It is seen sporting the ‘Thar’ badging in the tail lamps, on the outside rearview mirrors and inside door panels. This test mule seems to be a hard-top version of the Thar and gets blacked-out alloy wheels. As seen in the spy shot, the new Thar is likely to get partially removable front roof panels. Mahindra could also offer it with the option of removable door panels, similar to the Jeep Wrangler.

Inside, as spied, it will get a completely revamped cabin. The test mule is seen flaunting a touchscreen infotainment system (likely with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity), auto AC, a 3-spoke steering wheel with steering-mounted controls, and the 4x4 gear lever. It is also seen with leatherette upholstery and front power windows whose controls are placed below the 4x4 gear lever. The spied model also featured a roof-mounted speaker in the rear half of the cabin.

Mahindra will be offering the Thar with front-facing rear seats for the first time, making it a more practical SUV that could also be the family car. The latest spy shot also reveals that the new Thar will get adjustable front and rear headrests with not much comfort for a middle passenger in the rear seat. This means that the new Thar could be offered as a proper 4-seater SUV instead of a 5-seater layout.

The second-gen Thar will come with both petrol and diesel engines. The petrol option will likely be a new 2.0-litre turbocharged unit (unveiled at Auto Expo 2020) producing 190PS while the BS6 diesel engine is expected to be the 2.2-litre from the Scorpio, which belts out 140PS and 360Nm. The diesel-automatic option has been spied testing and the new turbo-petrol engine is expected to offer an automatic as well. While Mahindra is sure to offer a 4x4 drivetrain on the diesel variants, it may offer it with the petrol engine as well.

The new Thar is expected to cost upwards of Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom). It will rival the Force Gurkha and could also go head on with the likes of the Renault Duster given the additional comfort features.