As with the rest of the industry, Mahindra is gearing up to introduce BS6-compliant versions of its models, like the current-gen XUV500. The BS6-compliant SUV will be available in showrooms in the coming weeks and will continue to be powered by the same 2.2-litre diesel engine, albeit with the addition of an SCR system and a DPF that upgrade it to meet the stricter emission norms. Power in the updated 2.2-litre engine is expected to be the same, at 155hp, as its BS4 counterpart.
At launch, the BS6-compliant XUV500 will most likely be sold in four variants – W5, W7, W9 and W11 – and will be front-wheel-drive only. As far as gearbox choices go, the XUV500 BS6 will be retailed with a sole 6-speed manual transmission, which means the automatic version will not be on sale post April 1, 2020. In its BS4-compliant guise, the SUV comes with diesel-automatic (Rs 15.32-18.55 lakh) and AWD (Rs 18.45 lakh) options.
The XUV500 was earlier available with a 2.2-litre petrol-automatic powertrain, but was discontinued in mid-2019.
Apart from the above mentioned changes, there won’t be much to differentiate the BS4 XUV500 from the BS6 version, though the latter will be pricier than the former. The XUV500 has been on sale since 2011 and the BS6 upgrade to the current-generation SUV is a stop-gap measure to help the company continue selling the model. Mahindra has already begun road testing the second-gen XUV500 that is expected to reach Mahindra showrooms sometime later this year.
*All prices are ex-showroom, Mumbai
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