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Mahindra South Africa is launching the all-new XUV300, their first brand-new product in several years, in Cape Town this week.
Developed on the group’s new X100 platform, which is shared with the SsangYong Tivoli, the XUV300 is set to compete against compact SUVs such as the Ford EcoSport and Hyundai Creta.
GALLERY: 2019 Mahindra XUV300
The new model arrives in South Africa with two specification levels, with the pricing said to start under R250 000 which - in typical Mahindra fashion - is less than competitors in the market.
According to Mahindra, there will be two engines available at launch. Both engines are newly developed by the group, with a lot of the development done by Mahindra’s technical centres in the United States and India.
The first engine is a new three-cylinder turbo-charged 1.2 litre petrol engine, which is slated to deliver 82kW and 200Nm of torque.
The second new engine is a four-cylinder 1.5 litre turbodiesel, with 85kW and a healthy 300Nm, which peaks in a flat curve between 1 500rpm and 2 500rpm.
Both engines are mated to a new six speed manual gearbox, with an automatic version expected in the future.
READ: Here's why you’ll be pleasantly surprised by Mahindra's XUV300
The Mahindra XUV300 features styling inputs from Mahindra’s affiliate Pininfarina and it is the first of a new generation of models expected from the company in the next couple of years.
While the XUV300 is the first model to be launched by Mahindra in 2019, it follows several product upgrades and special editions that has been launched in 2018.
Last year, Mahindra launched an upgraded XUV500, which featured additional specifications, a new front and rear light treatment and additional specifications for its new top model - the W10.
The company also launched a similar front- and rear design refresh for its KUV100 NXT and where it added a more luxurious W10 model for the XUV500, it did the opposite with the KUV100 NXT by adding a more affordable K2 specification level, which is arguably one of the most affordable vehicles with airbags in South Africa.
Prior to the upgrade of the XUV500 and KUV100 NXT, Mahindra opened its assembly plant in Durban. This new facility recently celebrated its first 12 months in operation, when the 1 500th Pik Up rolled off the line.
Mahindra says the new production facility not only signals its long-term intentions for South Africa and Africa, but also allows it to build special editions for Pik Up customers in South Africa.
Since the factory opened, Mahindra has introduced a limited run Karoo Edition on its S6 and S10 models and have also recently launched a Kalahari Edition at NAMPO as a kitted, but very affordable single cab Pik Up.
