[shankar.balan]

Quite a few manufacturers offer a car configurator. And this can be used to configure upto some level on the base package.

In this scenario, the car, once configured, is literally custom built for you.

Examples include the new Mini Cooper, Landrover Defender, Ford Bronco. Dodge RAM, Ford F150 - the list is long.

Mahindra is definitely a world class manufacturer and can easily do this if so inclined.

[mi2n]

The base Z2 is easily the meanest looking daddy.

[saurabh041086]

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

I am also inclined towards the Z4 with 4x4. Would prefer Manual Transmission as compared to Automatic but then price would be the king. I recall that in Scorpio and TUV300, people have installed MLD from Eaton and for sure, there will be something of this kind that we will also see for "Scorpio-N" 9 (ahem ahem). Z8 + AT + 4x4 will be expensive for sure, my birdie told me that it will cost around 22L to 23L onroad in Himachal.

Also wanted to share with you guys that the registration cost till now is 6% flat in Himachal. When I got my Thar, I paid 6% & this was back in Feb 2022.

While checking on BLD , What is a brake lock differential?
In addition to controlling how fast the driven wheels are spinning, there is a feature of brake traction control that controls wheel speed side to side across a driven axle and is called BLD, or “brake lock differential.” BLD does not care how fast the wheels are turning, just that they are turning at the same speed.

I have not been in a stuck situation yet with Thar or chose the ground/turf carefully but wanted to see if on TeamBHP, once the Open Diff vs MLD vs the 4x4 with both MLD/BLD are tested. Really waiting on a detailed analysis from TeamBHP so that I can make a decision, whether to upgrade or not.

Even I would prefer a Z4 Automatic (with adding MLD later on) but lack of ESC and hill hold is a major problem.

Originally Posted by mi2n

The base Z2 is easily the meanest looking daddy.

Attachment 2330794

Where are we able to see this. I plan to book Z4 but could not find any visuals of that variant.

[Arinmech]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Quite a few manufacturers offer a car configurator. And this can be used to configure upto some level on the base package.

None of the examples you provided are mass market product I suppose. Custom design of a mass market product needs complex and very efficient manufacturing process. Is it viable for a mass market manufacturer?

[akannath]

Originally Posted by naru80

The lower trims feature distribution is interesting.

For eg: There's a 1 lakh difference between Z4 and Z6 diesel manuals. For the extra money, you get traction control, hill hold, ESP in safety kit. And Adrenox, sunroof, TFT screen in instrument cluster in gizmos (as far as i can see).

But Z4 automatic gets the same safety kit as Z6 manual. If they price the auto at a 1 lakh premium (@ 14.99), then Z4 auto will be same price as Z6 manual with the same safety features and minus the gizmos. In that case, it will be the variant for me.

Exactly. This is why I am eagerly awaiting for the AT variant price reveal first, before making a booking. If the Z4 AT Diesel comes in at 14.99, this would be my pick for sure. Is this realistic? Who knows? Fingers crossed.

I would have happily chosen the diesel manual if it was provided with the safety kit (ESP and the likes). But these are only offered on the AT variant for Z4 but comes as standard for Z6 and above.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Arinmech

None of the examples you provided are mass market product I suppose. Custom design of a mass market product needs complex and very efficient manufacturing process. Is it viable for a mass market manufacturer?

Of course, the Mini and the Ford F-150 and Dodge RAM and all are mass-market products in the US. So is the Jeep Wrangler, which also allows you to configure your Jeep.
Therefore it is most certainly viable if only the manufacturer wishes to offer such a facility, which our Indian manufacturers evidently don’t.

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

I am also inclined towards the Z4 with 4x4. Would prefer Manual Transmission as compared to Automatic but then price would be the king.

The Z2 or Z4 both ought to be offered with a 4x4, AT and safety kit. They can drop all the electronics except for navigation, a basic radio, some ports and chargers and the TMPS.
If these were available they would become automatically the best sellers in the range. I wish we could influence these marketing people in M&M.

But then, it is quite evident that all the chaps making the decisions are all on a tight leash from the bean counter departments.


Mod Note - Please use the MultiQuote function. Kindly post your reply below the Quoted posts per forum etiquette.

[akannath]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Of course the Mini and the Ford F-150 and Dodge RAM and all are mass market products in the US.
So is the Jeep Wrangler, which also allows you to configure your Jeep.
Therefore it is most certainly viable, if only the manufacturer wishes to offer such a facility, which our Indian manufacturers evidently don’t.

Just adding my 2 cents regarding customisation of vehicles.
This is not a new thing at all: several car manufacturers already offer this. I bought my Skoda Kodiaq in 2017 and I had the option to choose my trim level and then add on extras at extra cost. These extras included a wide variety of features including safety kit, convenience and comfort features including 2 additional seats to make it a 7 seater.

Would be great if all manufacturers provided this at some point...makes the ordering process pretty seamless and flexible. Ofcourse, the options offered will depend on the what level of customisation can be provided by the manufacturer, based on their resources and commercial forecasting.

[ChetanM6]

Checked the car sometime back. Wife rejected it on first look without even allowing the SA to explains the car's features. Also , personally the space inside felt quite less compared to XUV 700. Also the fit and finish near the arm rest and the center console is average. But that said, generally car really feels well built. Kudos to Mahindra . This car should score at least 4 star on GNCAP.
Somehow I couldn't make myself like the car . It was too butch for me. For anybody who likes to have a car that would even force the BMTC buses to stop for you to pass then look no further. This is the car !!
Anyways we ended up booking a XUV 700AXL AT Petrol.
Some pictures of the white Scorpio N

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

...In this scenario, the car, once configured, is literally custom built for you.
...
Mahindra is definitely a world class manufacturer and can easily do this if so inclined.

Mate, IMO It is not the possibility which holds a manufacturer from providing this. It is the cost viability.

Custom-built means an alteration in production lines, which adds to costs. Then there are issues of people rejecting the delivery of the car, due to an unhappy PDI or other reasons. 100% advance etc would cause other concerns. There would be further costs of holding and managing different types of inventory and building processes around that across the network from marketing, production, distribution, dealer level, staff training and much more.

In effect, the additional cost might well bring the overall cost close to an upper variant, wherein again the viability of such a process becomes questionable.

The above scenario would change based on the market, the product's target segment, the costs one can absorb and the justification for it, the pressure on production lines, the marketing approach, what the competitors are doing and not doing so be a competitive disadvantage (~market expectation) etc.

Further, if a manufacturer's production lines are not as tight and there is leeway to go for such processes, they might as well use it for configurations; a place Mahindra current is not in.

Then, there is also the issue of it being enough of a priority for the resources of the company. The attention and resources could be put in other areas which would bring better returns.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by akannath

Exactly. This is why I am eagerly awaiting for the AT variant price reveal first, before making a booking. If the Z4 AT Diesel comes in at 14.99, this would be my pick for sure. Is this realistic? Who knows? Fingers crossed.

Z4 AT is one of the high value variants. I too, expect them to price the Diesel Z4 AT at 14.99 as there are states where road tax slabs go higher beyond 15 lakhs. It has simply everything that one needs for use in the City as well as on highways. It can handle a fair bit of rough roads or no roads even without the 4X4. You get all the important safety features including the all-important ESP, which is critical for such a large and tall BOF vehicle. You get the full 175HP/400NM tune, Cruise Control, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment, Android Auto, Apple Car Play, Hill-hold and Hill-descent, front and rear disc brakes, rear parking sensors, cooled glovebox, Frequency-dependant damping, adjustable lumbar support, rear wiper and washer, skid plates, electrically adjustable ORVMs, LED turn signals on ORVMs, multi-link rear suspension, Load-bearing roof rails, LED tail lamps, Rear spoiler with high mounted stop lamp etc.

The top end Thar LX Diesel AT sells for much higher (16 lakhs plus) but gets an inferior feature set compared to the ScorpioN Z4 Diesel AT (No rear disk brakes, no FDD, less power (130HP/300NM versus 175HP/400NM), smaller 7 inch touch-screen etc, seating for 4 instead of 7, no roof rails, no rear wiper/washer, no electrically adjustable ORVMs etc). Only thing it gets additionally is 4WD, and nice looking 18 inch alloy wheels. Do a swap to the 18 inch wheels and tires on your ScorpioN and you are off and away with a good looking, capable SUV that can go almost anywhere in great comfort at a reasonable price point.

Compare that to Kia - you get a Sonet (which will look like a midget next to the ScoprioN) and is nothing but a hatchback on stilts with far inferior safety for that price point.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by mi2n

The base Z2 is easily the meanest looking daddy.

Attachment 2330794

Thanks.

Wanted to know how the Z2 would look without those 'chrome' grille. Cool.

Is this a screengrab from some video? Or is the configurator up and running on the website?

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Is this a screengrab from some video?

There are several videos of the base model on Youtube, such as this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_EOJQ1_3i8

Just a colour change in the grill makes a significant difference to the look!

~~~~

Looks of the ScropioN

It really has looked impressive from front, front-size angle, especially with the camera at a lower height than typical eye level, as shown professionally by Mahindra. As pictures from various angles are pouring in which have not been specifically taken to make the car look good, it has started to look less special to me.

The front and sides up to C pillar do look good indeed - the part 'inspired' by the Alturas G4/Ssangyong Rexton G4. As we move beyond that, it starts to look a tad strange. The way rear part of the side profile is shaped feels a bit odd.

The back - the part of a car which is usually seen the most on the road - is totally out of place. Like, it doesn't belong to this one, and has been like a patch put later. It is also way too busy for a car, especially as compared to the rest of the car. It has a van like feel to it, than an SUV.

I don't mean to undermine the efforts of the design team. Aesthetics are very personal and this is just a view from a potential buyer.

The sting, however is really appreciated

Edit:

Originally Posted by ChetanM6

Somehow I couldn't make myself like the car

Your pictures further highlighted the above point to me; especially the side.

[shankar.balan]

As per my study of the brochure the petrol variant comes with Electric PS.

And Hydraulic PS comes in the Diesel only in Z2 and Z4 variants and only on the Diesel engines with 97 KW power output.

There are two states of tune in the 2.2 L Mhawk Diesel in the Scorpio N. 128.6 KW at 3500rpm producing 370nm of torque at 1500-3000 rpm in the MT and 400NM of torque at 1750-2750rpm in the AT.

And the other state of tune being 97 KW at 3750rpm producing 300NM torque at 1500 to 3000 rpm. As per the brochure the Z4 AT, gets this lower state of tune. Importantly, in the lower variants, only the Z4 MT gets 4WD.

So it seems that if one wants AT and 4WD and the powerful diesel engine there is absolutely no option but to choose the Z8 or Z8L.

All of this seems a little confusing. I really would value more expert inputs on the variants.

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Z4 AT is one of the high value variants. I too, expect them to price the Diesel Z4 AT.

[condor]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

As per my study of the brochure the petrol variant comes with Electric PS.

And Hydraulic PS comes in the Diesel only in Z2 and Z4 variants and only on the Diesel engines with 97 KW power output. .

Why would two sets of variants, being launched together, have two different types of steering ? As it is the different engines are causing a difference in the whole production process, why add another key difference ?

[naru80]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And the other state of tune being 97 KW at 3750rpm producing 300NM torque at 1500 to 3000 rpm. As per the brochure the Z4 AT, gets this lower state of tune.

Can you give a link/screenshot for this info?

The Z4 variants are really confusing. As far as i could make out, it was not specified which Z4 diesel variant gets which state of tune.

If diesel AT also gets lower state of tune then no option than to go with z6 manual.