Mahindra Eyeing Creta & Duster With A New Tivoli-Based SUV

Expect the upcoming Mahindra SUV S201 to launch in 2018

Mahindra & Mahindra will soon start working on a new SUV with an aim to plug the small gap that lies between the Scorpio and the XUV500. The upcoming SUV, codenamed S201, will go up against the Hyundai Creta and Renault Duster and will be based on the SsangYong Tivoli platform.

The Hyundai Creta is the current bestseller in this segment and it has just delivered its best sales performance in the last month, accumulating over 9,000 units. The Duster, on the other hand, is showing its age now and sales are slowing down. Both these SUVs are 5-seaters, and while the Creta woos its audience with the plusher cabin of the two, the Duster appeals to buyers looking for a modern SUV with a utilitarian appeal. The Tivoli is also a five-seater SUV and so should be the upcoming SUV from Mahindra.

Mahindra will, however, not rebadge the Tivoli for India. Instead, the SUV-maker is expected to design the S201 SUV in India based on inputs from Pininfarina (the Mahindra-acquired Italian design house) and SsangYong.

While it'll be too early to say which engine will power the upcoming Mahindra SUV, it is expected that both petrol and diesel engines will make it to the final line-up. Mahindra is jointly developing a 1.5-litre petrol engine with SsangYong, and the same engine may debut in the S201 SUV in India.

But, with Mahindra, we're confident that there will be a diesel engine powering the new compact SUV, and our estimate based on the current prices of other cars points towards the Rs 10-14.5 lakh range for the S201. However, the compact SUV is not expected to hit the market anytime soon; in fact, it may take Mahindra almost a year to make it production-ready.

*all prices ex-showroom Delhi. L = lakh.

You can expect a near-production or a production version of the new SUV to make an appearance at the 2018 India Auto Expo.

Note to readers - Images used are of the SsangYong Tivoli and are for reference purpose only