Mahindra’s Thar Could Soon Get Forward-facing Seats As Standard On All Variants

The Thar’s recently acquired impressive four-star safety rating could spur Mahindra to offer forward-facing rear seats on its base variant as well

• Thar received the best-ever child occupant protection rating for an Indian car tested by Global NCAP yet.

• Global NCAP awarded the excellent safety rating to Thar variants with forward-facing rear seats.

• Mahindra has temporarily halted bookings for the base AX Std and AX variants which come with side-facing seats.

• We expect these variants to be back on the market in January 2021.

• Expect them to fetch a premium of around Rs 20,000 if forward-facing rear seats are offered.

Mahindra’s second-gen Thar began its India journey amidst quite a fanfare with the SUV managing to amass more than 20,000 bookings in the short period since its launch in early-October. And the SUV continues to remain in the news for positive reasons with Global NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) awarding it with an overall 4-star safety rating. This could push Mahindra to offer forward-facing rear seats on the base AX Std and AX variants of the Thar as well.

Global NCAP awarded the Thar with four stars for adult occupant protection and four stars for child occupant protection, the latter being a first for an Indian car tested by GNCAP yet. For both of these safety ratings, the forward-facing rear seats are crucial. In case of an adult occupant’s safety, the three-point seatbelts that come with the forward-facing rear seats were instrumental in keeping the rear passengers safe. In the case of child occupant safety, the ISOFIX mounts can only be had with the forward-facing rear seats, which are crucial for obtaining that excellent child safety rating.

Mahindra, in fact, recently stopped taking orders for the base AX Std and AX variants of the Thar. We expect it to resume sometime in January 2021, with the forward-facing rear seats possibly being a standard fitment.

As far as the price increase is concerned, the Thar was priced between Rs 9.80 lakh to Rs 13.75 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi), when it was launched back in October. With the addition of forward-facing rear seats to the base variant, we expect that starting price to be pushed closer to the Rs 10 lakh mark. The Mahindra Thar has no real rivals in the market. It will battle it out with upcoming lifestyle offerings such as the BS6 Force Gurkha and Suzuki Jimny.

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