Mahindra TUV300 review, road test

There’s no running away from the fact that the exterior design is not a strong suit for the TUV and it doesn’t make a good first impression. The idea was to give a compact SUV the rugged look of a full-size one, and to that end, Mahindra has retained an upright, boxy shape that squeezes into every last millimetre of the four-metre length restriction. The oddly raked B- and C-pillars, blacked out D-pillar and the thick shoulder line don’t do much to disguise the overall bulk of the car, and neither do the massive square wheel-arches which make even the 15-inch wheels and 75-profile tyres look small. The front is garnished with rectangular chrome grille slats that draw just a little too much inspiration from modern Jeeps, headlights reminiscent of the ones on the Bolero, and a large and ungainly front bumper with a huge rectangular air dam and square fog lamps that just look excessive. Rear styling is very simple, and of course, the spare wheel is mounted on the side-hinged rear door. It may be rugged, but the design is also too utilitarian, especially compared to modern-looking compact SUVs like the Ford EcoSport, and once again shows a lack of design maturity from Mahindra.

Sitting on a modified version of the new Scorpio’s hydroformed chassis, the TUV is more rigid and about 80kg lighter than the Quanto, and this should aid performance, fuel economy and overall dynamics. At the front, the TUV uses a double wishbone suspension with coil springs and a stabiliser bar, and in the rear, it gets a multi-link suspension with coil springs and a stabiliser bar. Wheel travel is pretty generous and it can take a bit of off-roading too without scraping its underbody. However, considering the ‘rugged SUV’ image that Mahindra has crafted for this car, we feel it should have been given a 4x4 system, at least as an option. Is that on the cards, Mahindra?