re: Mahindra's sub-4 meter Bolero. EDIT: Launched @ Rs 6.59 lakh! This is a good move by Mahindra - much more so that the TUV300 and the KUV100 and the Quanto which has been re-christened as the NuvoSport but continues to be an uninspiring Top Heavy, over designed Ugly Duckling of a vehicle, and the heavily OTT over-designed and ugly new Scorpio and all the rest of the vague vehicles that they have been churning out these last several years.
However, they need to get all the following things right in this new Short Chassis Bolero.
1. Legroom and ergonomics in front (driver and passenger seats). We really badly need top quality under-thigh support in the Mahindra seats. All of their vehicles seem like they are designed for pygmies...
2. Height adjustable seats in front. The middle row seats need to be ergonomic and need to be able to move back and forwards as required. Front seats definitely need good legroom so the ergonomic studies have to be made on tall people.
3. Airbags
4. ABS
5. Powerful smooth and refined CRDe engine which makes at least 120BHP and some 300Nm of Torque.
6. Larger diameter wheels as well as fatter tyres with classic 5 - Fat Spoke Alloys with the Spare securely mounted on the TailGate...
7. Easy to modify in a modular manner - such as addition of snorkel etc
8. 4WD option
9. Hill Hold Control
10. Traction Control
11. Electronic Stability Program
12. Bright and good headlamps
13. Ergonomic Gear shift design
14. Re-configuring the gear box to give us a good short gear ratio in 1st and 2nd which will enable pulling power.
15. Split foldable rear seats
16. Removable rear seats so that it can become a wagon or a van type thing when required
17. Fit, finish and Finesse overall
18. Introduce this in a new petrol variant which can move fast.
19. Iron out all the kinks in this dated design to make it a strong, silent, modern Jeep.
20. They have to iron out the overall handling kinks in the Bolero too.
21. They must give it the same kind of 200mm or so, Ground Clearance and with the Body on Frame construction this could be the perfect jeep!
22. A retractable electric sun roof would be great, so that wildlife photographers and their ilk will immediately consider this vehicle.
23. Touchscreen with GPS and Bluetooth and all the rest of it - but the TouchScreen needs to be placed well on the dash. The Dash itself should be of flatter construction so as to be more utilitarian in nature.
24. Lastly they need to pay attention to their colour palette - offering this in Silver, Grey and Earth Colours like Dark or Jungle Green or Turf Green, Camo Brown/Beige etc will only UP the desirability quotient...
If all this can be achieved and then priced at around the 10 Lac mark for the top spec version, this will be an absolute runaway hit for the daily use plus leisure Mini-SUV market.
Frankly had I had the option of this kind of spec some 10 years or 12 years ago, I would have bought it like a shot.
I hope they are reading this - because they keep pouring out old wine in new bottles every now and then when they could do so much more and so much better...
Basically let them take inspiration from the Jeep Renegade and try to replicate the ideas there. Let them please NOT focus on stupid bling and stupid things like Chrome overdoses etc. Let them build something with simplicity and elegance and functionality rather than concentrate on their dam fool ideas on form and over-design! (Given the opportunity I will be glad to help them - even for free...)
And let them for heaven's sake not employ some dam fool designer who will KILL this with over design. They really need to understand "simplicity and elegance of design" as a core concept. (Like the old Original Bolero and Scorpio, which were plain, understated and anonymous, the way Jeeps ought to be.)
Last edited by shankar.balan : 16th July 2016 at 15:34.
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