[sid_deb]

Originally Posted by Slipstream11

Moreover, if the "lite" ought to be pitted against the i20, Baleno segment, then the keeping the price well below 10 lacs will be more important than the need to provide a 4x4 transfer case.

The "lite" shouldn't be pitted against the i20, Baleno segment. Rather compete with the CSUV (Vitara Brezza, XUV300, etc.) and differentiate by providing the 4x4 capability at similar price range.

All 4x4 vehicles currently cost over 15L on-road. There is actually a clear whitespace to be filled since when the Gypsy has been discontinued and now the Thar has moved up a segment.

[Slipstream11]

Originally Posted by sid_deb

The "lite" shouldn't be pitted against the i20, Baleno segment. Rather compete with the CSUV (Vitara Brezza, XUV300, etc.) and differentiate by providing the 4x4 capability at similar price range.

All 4x4 vehicles currently cost over 15L on-road. There is actually a clear whitespace to be filled since when the Gypsy has been discontinued and now the Thar has moved up a segment.

I doubt if a 4x4 feature can be termed as a differentiator here - as it will push the "lite" variant to a completely different segment altogether (definitely beyond CSUV segment - both in terms of its capability and price).

[sgmuser]

Originally Posted by Bluebird_7

I really do not understand the timing of this. On one hand they are struggling with Thar deliveries, then there is 5 door Thar planned,

Add to this, facing a court case in Australia :-)

On a serious note, M&M is trying to milk Thar 2.0 now. This is diluting the rugged image it had built, now with a pony 1.5lit and smaller wheels. It is going to look like ugly duckling on road with small tires. But most of the buyers they will go straight to the tire shop after the delivery of the car.

Rather, come with Thar 2.0 DSL 4WD Manual barebone without AC/Audio and other creature comforts like cruise control and other fancy electronics but with options of soft/hard top which could be easily removable. For a country like India where it rains frequently (many places at least). Now, the pricing is interesting part. If they can make it around 9 to 10 max ex-showroom, then this is a winner and still M&M will continue to mint good money.

1.5 lit is a very very poor decision IMHO.

[vigneshkumar31]

Originally Posted by DicKy

If they manage to have different styling, cool. But the same Thar? Don't know how a 17 lakh Thar owner would take to a 7 lakh Thar lite.

The same way a 70 lakh Wrangler owner takes the 17 lakh Thar

Jokes apart, the Thar's strongest USP is perhaps its looks and a cheaper lite version would be perfect for mall crawling and rake in volumes, even more volumes.

[da_lowrider]

Honestly, the only way to do this would be to make the Thar brand a family of products. Have the 'Thar Lite' compete with the Jimny and the regular Thar as the halo product where the Thar lite follows the design principles of the Thar brand - at this stage I envisage it to be attributes like butch - possibly boxy styling, robust build, etc.
My two cents, I would have the design team work on a more butch and differentiated top hat on the TUV300 (easier as it is body on frame), improve the interiors, lose the jump seats and rebrand it as the Thar Lite.
It is an approach that is relatively safer in terms of initial investment, and also ensures that, one way or the other, it doesn't hurt the regular Thar in any major way.
Also, it also addresses one of the issues that the TUV300 faced earlier, as a viable alternative to CSUVs it was rather outclassed, as a lifestyle oriented product, it might fare better - but will still need to have some issues sorted though.

[kpkeerthi]

A lite front wheel drive Thar with a less powerful 1.5 litre engine on a full blown heavy ladder frame would be meaningless unless Mahindra is looking into changing the chassis as well.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

OT: Didn’t know Mahindra had 2 different 1.5 L engines. I assumed that the same 1.5 engine was adapted for different configurations and used in the TUV, XUV300, and Marazzo.

The three cylinder 1.5l diesel was the downsized minus one cylinder version of old Xylo's engine. First introduced in the Quanto, then the Nuvosport and the TUV300. Now doing duty in the Bolero. Has good low end torque and pretty refined for a 3 pot. But shows its age.

The D15 four cylinder 1.5l diesel is a brand new one that is right now in the Marazzo and XUV300. Haven't driven the Marazzo, but the XUV300 is just . If tax/excise exception is the only concern, this is the superior engine.

Maybe the 3 pot is cheaper to make or Mahindra wants economy of scale for it. Or the old 3pot is a proven mill and Mahindra is not sure of the long term durability of the new engine. But if not, beats me why can't Mahindra replace the VGT with FGT and have the new engine across the board.

Originally Posted by kpkeerthi

A lite front wheel drive Thar with a less powerful 1.5 litre engine on a full blown heavy ladder frame would be meaningless unless Mahindra is looking into changing the chassis as well.

Ermm..no way a 2WD Thar would be FWD. It is the Gen3 platform. Especially after the Marazzo, Mahindra would be fed up with innovation for the sake of it. Hope the U321 platform is buried for good.

[400notout]

Originally Posted by DicKy

1. If they manage to have different styling, cool. But the same Thar? Don't know how a 17 lakh Thar owner would take to a 7 lakh Thar lite.

Really curious as to why you chose to compare between the 'guesstimated' ex showroom of the lite with on road price for the Thar? It should be a 7 vs 14 lakhs which doesn't seem that off as we already have the Seltos and Creta where the base and top variant has a difference of 10 lakhs on road. I know it's different engines, but same would be the case with the Thar no?

And I don't understand why people are citing waiting periods and production constraints as anyway this won't be launched in atleast a years time. We already have the 7OO and Scorpio awaiting launch with the 7OO expected around Sep-Oct '21. I'm sure Mahindra will find a way to push its deliveries.

Coming to the car itself, it's a good idea. Many like the new Thar for this looks and not just 4x4. Since it's already sub 4m a 1.5 engine would mean tax savings which should help them in pricing it well. After the 7OO, Scorpio , 9OO, Marazzo now this. Mahindra seems to be ruling the Indian car scene lately . A special thanks to them for giving our brains something to chew on in these depressing times. Wishing them all the best

[srh]

There is certainly a market for a bare bones utilitarian workhorse. M&M can exploit it by stripping the electronics & Gizmos from the Thar, plonking a cheaper engine, doing some aesthetic tweaks and then rebranding it - maybe as a MM540? However, branding a cheaper version as Thar would be harakiri.

[turbo]

I guess a lot of people here are forgetting about the Thar AX.

This is what I expect the upcoming thar to look like. Albeit with a 1.5 litre engine. Similar to the Thar LX? Yes. Yet enough differences to make out if you've spent 10 lakhs on it, or 15. (Yes, I expect the 1.5 diesel Thar to cost 10 lakhs on road, which means 8 to 8.5 ish ex-showroom). Also expect lesser number of colours. And possibly a white colour option, because government bodies love white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMW2Kq2LaKA

And in black.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuiyNj8E-f0

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by turbo

I guess a lot of people here are forgetting about the Thar AX.

This is what I expect the upcoming thar to look like. Albeit with a 1.5 litre engine. Similar to the Thar LX? Yes. Yet enough differences to make out if you've spent 10 lakhs on it, or 15. (Yes, I expect the 1.5 diesel Thar to cost 10 lakhs on road, which means 8 to 8.5 ish ex-showroom). Also expect lesser number of colours. And possibly a white colour option, because government bodies love white.

Boy that Thar AX is an unplanned limited edition, a rarity. Wonder how many people got their hands on one before Mahindra pulled the plug? If lite version comes with such white wheels and two benches in the rear it will please a lot of people who shied away from Thar because it is way too flash and luxurious for their use case. White color is enticing thought and baffles me why they did not offer it in regular Thar V2. For lite they should offer white, green and some other rusty color and be done with it.

[sgmuser]

Also, the talk of Jimny here does not make any sense, be it size or power. Thar is humongous while Jimny is pony.

Thar has 2.2 or 2 liter mills while Jimny has 1.3 lit mill at least what I have seen so far.

in MM
Measurement : Thar Jimny
Length 3985 3645
Width 1855 1645
Height 1844 1725
WB 2450 2250
GC 226 210

[thechinmay]

I think it makes perfect sense. Anyways a large percentage of Thars will never leave the city streets. The 1.5L should be adequate while looking like a million bucks.
Should sell really well with the speculated starting price of 7L.

[84.monsoon]

I wish they would also bring out a base version with the 1.5 MStallion petrol engine with around 130HP and 280NM. That would eat the hot hatchbacks of today for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The 2.0 Petrol equipped Thar does 0-100 in 10 seconds and is about as fast as the Polo TSI. Imagine shedding 150 KG on account of smaller engine and no 4X4 gear - the 1.5 mStallion Thar will probably be able to do similar times as the 2.0 Petrol one. Viola, you have a fast compact SUV that can outrun the crowds of hot hatchbacks for similar money!

I awould fully expect that they would adopt a skimming strategy, where they will first satisfy most of the pent up demand out there for the current larger-engine models and just as demand starts to fall below capacity, they will introduce this lower spec model to catch the next lot of customers in the lower price segment. That would probably not happen till late 2023 at the earliest.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

That would probably not happen till late 2023 at the earliest.

There's other reasons as to why Thar Lite will take its sweet time coming-
* There are other products that need to come out of the product launch pipeline first - the big XUV, the Scorpio etc.
* Mahindra perform certain refinements/NVH tuning on their own, which a Tata Motors would usually give to a Bosch; let's take the design of engine mounts and other components (e.g., evaluating impact of welding techniques on vibrations, evaluating impact of certain materials on vibrations etc.) that play a role in overall NVH and refinement levels. Mahindra R&D folks do all of it on their own, as time-taking and painstaking as it is. Not to mention the cost, the salaries involved etc. Whereas I was told that Tata utilizes Bosch's expertise and their turnaround time for NVH tuning, component design etc. is so much lesser than Mahindra's.