[sasi@8689]

Got to see a KUV on road today; the same bright orange colour which they are using for promotions. It certainly is disproportionate to look at. Like TATA's obsession with weight, Mahindra seems to be obsessed with height. After TUV, this vehicle is also too high while being challenged length wise. Wonder why M&M did not use the full quota of 4 metres length, which definitely would have helped. The vehicle i saw was taking a right turn into the showroom and the length of the car looks too abrupt when viewed from side.

But i like the way M&M, as a company is going. They are not being complacent with successes like scorpio and xuv, but launching a whole line of UV's one after the other; new gen scorpio, TUV, XUV facelift and auto and now this KUV If they can tone down their design language a bit, they are all set. One more thing i liked is their interior designs in TUV and this KUV. Didn't like the interiors of new gen scorpio a bit (no offence to owners please), but pleasantly surprised looking at insides of TUV and KUV. Would be really interesting to see the medium to long term sales numbers of this vehicle, once the launch euphoria is done with.

[swiftnfurious]

All the reviews seem to agree that the dash mounted gear lever is ergonomically good and has positive gear shifts! Now, that's a pleasant surprise. The fuel tank capacity is a mere 35L ! Mahindra, even the Swift comes with a 43L fuel tank which is reasonable good for an interstate trip. 35L is a bit low, especially for the petrol.

The reviews seem mostly in positive (as a package) against the design odds. Guess, this will bring Mahindra decent sales.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Infact given that you are compairing it to Laura and Yeti makes me wonder if you actually work for the marketing deaprtment at Mahindra. No offence.

With all due respect, based on your comments on this thread as well as the TUV300 thread, you seem to have a low tolerance for the unconventional. Anything that is not low slung and not a close approximation of a sedan seems to be a design fiasco. Did you scoff at iphone when it was released? Just kidding
I agree that there are too many creases and style elements on the KUV but in black, most of it fades away.

Source: Motoroids

If people are ready to spend money on the polo cross, liva cross & the i20 active, then why not the KUV100? Build is good, safety is top notch & the car has all the trappings that an urban first car buyer might look for. Few more points that stood out from my drive:
1. Brakes seem decent - stomped on them from 65 and the car quickly dropped to 20 without a fuss and in straight line
2. Steering is light - a lot lighter than the TUV and hence not a problem at parking speed. Feels good to hold as well
3. Door handles on the inside seem thin and flimsy
4. Rear ingress - Rear doors don’t seem to open wide and hence its not as easy to get in as in the front. Those planning to buy this as a city run around for elders, please take a test drive with the elders and check for ingress/egress comfort
5. Reflection of the dashboard on lower half of the windscreen is distracting. Its going to be difficult to drive this at noon on a bad road with sun & shade playing hide & seek
6. Door pads are slim - similar to the TUV300

[Aragorn]

I see a lot of flak around the design and the fact that this is being sold as an SUV. When BMW can sell an estate looking X1 as an SUV, an Ecosport which is no taller than a Swift as an SUV, why not this?

Anyway, who defines what an SUV is. It was a marketing term conjured by American manufacturers to push high profit, large vehicles to unsuspecting buyers. The trend slowly spread to the rest of the world and now suddenly they are everywhere.

Every manufacturer has to find a unique space to operate in. For Mahindra it is UVs. So, expect them to brand their vehicles as SUVs. How would it seem to the general population if suddenly launches a "small car" or "hatchback". Its going to be difficult to digest, isn't it.

Since the balance of this thread is too much negative side, this is my 2 cents to balance it

PS: I still think this is a disproportionate design. But the manufacturers intent and marketing approach is something we need to debate some more.

[Games Goblin]

Interesting car by Mahindra. For me, the front design does look good and is aggressive, but the top half of the design has little cohesion with the bottom - the small wheels do not help. The black color KUV seems a bit better in this regard as it hides the top bulk better and the top-heavy feeling is less pronounced on the black car.

Also, after designing the front, the designers seem to have run out of energy, as the rear looks bland when compared to the aggressive front.

Well, my inner gut says this will be a successful model for Mahindra.

[prashanthyr]

Definitely looks an oddball, with the proportions between Tire / Glass / Sheet metal / body length / height all wrong. The Pinninfarina connection couldn't have come at a better time for M&M - they are turning out excellent vehicles and need support in the styling dept and who better than one of the best design houses to give it?

The Autocar review was very positive though - so this could do a Santro on the competition. I think the pricing is a bit ambitious.

OT - I notice an uncanny similarity between the alloy designs of the KuV and the Zica! See enclosed Pics taken from respective threads for reference. The primary difference seems to be that the KuV has 12 spokes against the Zica's 10

[McLaren Rulez]

I sincerely hope no one makes the mistake of using that middle front seat to transport people, small or large.

While the two regular frontal occupants get an airbag each, the guy in the middle gets a gear lever through his lung. Unique, indeed!

[msk_kapoor]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

I sincerely hope no one makes the mistake of using that middle front seat to transport people, small or large.

While the two regular frontal occupants get an airbag each, the guy in the middle gets a gear lever through his lung. Unique, indeed!

Of course i believe persons who are sensible enough to wear seatbelts will definitely use the middle seat only as armrest. For rest it doesn't matter whether there is a person in middle seat. The other 2 occupants in front seat will anyway face the same fate as him.

Having said that Mahindra might have given this seat for short rides like inside college campus or hostel campus or in high traffic areas where you won't even cross 20 or 30kph.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by KreativeGeek;3891561
Even on paper the Diesel engine nudges slightly ahead in power delivery:

[U

Power[/u]
KUV100 - 77 bhp @ 3750 RPM Vs. MS Baleno - 74 bhp @ 4000 RPM
Torque
KUV100 - 190Nm @ 1750 RPM Vs. MS Baleno - 190NM @ 2000 RPM

1. Baleno is without question far lighter

2. The petrol KUV has a 100 rpm peak torque band, and the diesel a 500 rpm peak torque band, based on the brochure a few pages back

Originally Posted by Behemoth

When the Ecosport was launched people also said that was ugly, but then people got used to it.

I don't remember anyone saying the Ecosport was ugly. Quirky, not a proper SUV, smaller than in pics certainly.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

The KUV is far better in design than the Kwid and the Etios cross and also the Punto Adventure and even the Swift and these are the cars it is targeting.

Possibly - just possibly - the Etios Cross, but absolutely no way better than the rest.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

On the car swerving on hard braking all cars which are tall tend to do that, and the only thing which can prevent that is ESP, and in this segment no cars have that.

Baleno does have esp in the top variant.

Originally Posted by msk_kapoor

This is our shortcoming as human. If we are open we can even find beauty in our backyard and wont need to go to top ten tourist destinations to feel good.

This is not a philosophical discussion. The design is good only if small bits are viewed in isolation.

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Why can't we say that the car is ugly, if we feel it is ugly. Are we hurting it's sentiments?

And this is constructive criticism. The next car can be stunning and eye candy for all if Mahindra take this as constructive criticism.

Well said.

Originally Posted by Self Driven

Though I applaud the efforts by Indian manufacturers to get more share in the market with more options to choose from, got to understand and accept that our market is also maturing

Cheers.

Wait for the Tata Osprey for a better design I think. Give this one a miss.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by shashanka

Really? Then I wonder why Porsche Design would actually design a shade!
Which then went on to become an icon!

If you havent understood, it is the other way around here and I will leave it at that.

Originally Posted by procrj

With all due respect, based on your comments on this thread as well as the TUV300 thread, you seem to have a low tolerance for the unconventional. Anything that is not low slung and not a close approximation of a sedan seems to be a design fiasco. Did you scoff at iphone when it was released? Just kidding

You could not be more wrong. It is about proportions and subtlety of design. With TUV and Quanto you could understand that Mahindra designer were working within the confines of what was already being sold. So Quanto was simple a chopped Xylo and TUV300 is a reskinned Quanto, fair enough. But I wonder what design limitations were they working within this time? We all know this one is a clean sheet design, grounds up new, so what went wrong? More than anything else this shows the breadth of design talent (or lack of) at Mahindra. I bet if you were to ask the designers to explain their own design, they would not able to do it except coming up with hilariously obtuse statements like "design based on arms of the shades". This design is worse than what copy cat chinese companies would manage if they were designing on their own.

Now contrast that with Tata and in comparison they have come up with some fantastic designs starting all the way from Indica days. Even the much maligned Sumo Grande is a proportional design.

[GeeTee TSI]

Mahindra's obsession with 'toothy' grilles becoming a bit long in the tooth? From full grown cheetah canines in XUV to baby teeth in KUV.
Design lacks cohesiveness with quirky elements killing its proportions (unlike the TUV which looks clean through its boxy profile).
Mahindra inspired by Ssangyong designs?

[procrj]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

We all know this one is a clean sheet design, grounds up new, so what went wrong?

Amen to that. Sometimes design or features of the product is not defined bottom up but comes top down from the Alpha - the man with the moolah. Classic case - kindle fire phone. Maybe in this case they were just asked to imitate the Tivoli and make it look "young". In case of the tivoli, the length of the car makes the flares and arches look acceptable

Look at the front profile, looks like the designers did a pretty good job given that the brief was to make it look like the tivoli


Source - http://www.ssangyonggb.co.uk/pages/new-ssangyong/tivoli

One major difference is the heigh of the bonnet and the view from the drivers seat. While the tivoli seems to have a big windscreen which might give a decent view of the road ahead, the KUV has a much smaller glass area & a higher bonnet, which limits view of the road ahead.

All said & done, the value that the KUV100 brings to the table will drive its sales. I think it will settle down to 3-3.5K units per month after the initial rush

[vibbs]

I do not agree that the car looks good from rear and front. While it is not as quirky as the side profile, the rear is very average despite all the styling elements.

The black cladding in the bottom makes it look as if the car is placed on a trailer. There is no continuity with the rest of the body. Front is slightly better however there too they could have done well with some more continuity.

They could have improved the side profile by utilizing the full 4 m and reducing the car height. Mahindra need to find a way to get the height of their cars down, or at least make them look less tall. Otherwise with a length deficit, they ll always end up looking as if someone compressed the car along the length.

I thought they did a good job with styling the TUV. Here with KUV I am not impressed.

[Ragavsr]

I don't understand all the bashing about the design. Whenever the domestic car makers come up something new and quirky they are bashed to death, they are also bashed if they don't refresh their designs.

The same people would go ga-ga if the same side slashes were to be done by Hyundai.

I predict that the KUV will settle down at 10000 units monthly especially as the XUV seells like 3000-4000 monthly.

The design is quirky in a good way, The interiors are good, the engines are peppy, the ground clearance is good and price though higher than expected is in no way overpriced.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Ragavsr

I don't understand all the bashing about the design. Whenever the domestic car makers come up something new and quirky they are bashed to death, they are also bashed if they don't refresh their designs.

The same people would go ga-ga if the same side slashes were to be done by Hyundai.

This has become the most common type of comments on threads related to Tata and Mahindra.

Tell me, do you mean that if did not like the design we should still say we liked it? Or do you intend to say that we don't call a spade a spade when its manufactured by non desi company?

Have you seriously not seen the number of posts flaming Hyundai over their lifeless steerings and sof suspension? Or comments VAG recieves on horrible after sales and reliability of DSG. There is a thread dedicated only to focus on how Honda has cut corners when it comes to quality on Honda City. Innumerable posts that condemn Toyota for appalling interior quality on Etios twins, on how everything that GM does in India is wrong.

All this is not rant or bashing, it is what the forum readers and members feel about certain cars and being displayed on forum. Definitely not confined only to threads on cars manufactured by Desi companies.