Mahindra's upcoming compact SUV spotted again with new detailings

The upcoming compact crossover SUV from Mahindra, popularly known by its codename 'S101' is company's fend to the riling success of EcoSport and Duster. The test mule has been spotted recently with new detailings. The company has been testing this along with the Scorpio facelift for quite some time. This compact SUV will be the second monocoque product after the company's flagship XUV500 and is based on the same platform that underpins XUV500. The vehicle will see the light of the day next year while the Scorpio facelift will land sometime later this year.

Speaking of the design, the heavily camouflaged test mule looks curvy and beefy from the appearance and seems to be high riding. For the first time the test mule got production body parts, like the headlamps which are clearly visible; the car adores front and rear bumpers and several production ready add-ons. The headlamp are placed horizontally just like the XUV500. The grille seems to be narrow while the bumper is likely to boost large air dams. At the back, the vehicle still gets the fake tail lights for testing purpose, but it shows how the actual one will reside – the vehicle sports a wrap-around cavity ditching the Christmas tree layout in siblings like XUV500 and Scorpio. Unlike the Quanto, the S101 will boost 5 seating space as the roofline of the vehicle is a coupe like declining one. The overall length of the vehicle seems to be under four meter just like the EcoSport and the vehicle is expected to sport spare wheel mounted on the boot lid.

Talking about the interiors, the baby XUV500 is expected to receive interior layout similar to that of its big brother; even the upcoming Scorpio facelift interior spy shots reveal that the vehicle traces its interior bits and pieces with the flagship SUV in the stable. Mechanically, the vehicle is likely to receive Quanto diesel motor, the 3-cylinder oil burner churns out 100bhp at 3750rpm of maximum power and a peak torque of 240Nm between the range of 1600-2800rpm. It is matted to a five speed box in front wheel drive layout. The company showcased automated manual transmission (AMT) in Quanto at the 12th Indian Auto Expo in Feb, the S101 might get an AMT too. Both the arch rivals EcoSport and Duster do not boosts AT in diesel, Duster does not offer AT in any of the variants. If Mahindra launches this compact SUV with AMT, it will certainly give touch competition to the rivals in sales.

Image source - Quartermile