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-   -   Left Hand Drive XUV 5OO Spotted Testing (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/117080-left-hand-drive-xuv-5oo-spotted-testing.html)

We were on our way to lunch today, spotted this camouflaged XUV5OO on Hosur Road, Adugodi stretch (approaching Forum mall, opposite Robert Bosch).

It was a Left Hand Drive, but everything else about it was standard XUV5OO, including the interiors. There was a sticker on the rear window (washed out due to overexposure in pic No. 2) which had "W201" on it.

Mods: Could not find another thread about LHD XUV5OO, please merge with appropriate thread if my search was ... err ... inadequate?

bumping up thread after watermarking - Thanks for sharing

May be Mahindra is exporting XUV to countries where left hand drive configuration is standard.

@KiloAlpha, good catch.

Wonder what is Mahindra trying to achieve by camouflaging this one !

Publicity stunt! what else could they want? if this hadn't been camouflaged, no one would have suspected the left hand drive bit!

Good job KiloAlpha!

LHD vehicles are not street legal in India. Camouflage it and make it an obvious test mule.

Only a Team BHPian could have spotted this difference. Good catch there.

Correction, left hand drive cars cannot be imported. THose existing on the road are legal and also test vehciles running on manufacturer plates

Given the extent to which Mahindra is lagging in the supply-demand ratio for the XUV in India, does it make sense to have a export-version ready so soon?

They'd first need to stabilize their Indian delivery schedules.

As for the camouflaging, there could be some differences - badging, engine specs intended for the export version that Mahindra doesn't want to reveal just yet.

I hope Mahindra makes the SUV more European, in terms of colour combinations and design elements. This vehicle has the what it takes to be exported profitably, competition in the domestic market is a long way off, honestly I dont see any manufacturer which has the ability to take this product head on. They can afford to limit supply here while trying to crack overseas markets.

I spotted a red one in Chennai, a couple of months back, it was LHD and it was NOT camouflaged. Mahindra engineers were in it with their laptops watching real time test data.

I hope Mahindra first irons out all the glitches from the vehicle & then export it.

Err... What about the Veyron? I heard it is bought in as a LHD.

Mahindra's are gaining popularity in some European countries like Italy, and they have big plans for the US Market - hence their coined term 'World SUV'. So I guess extra testing goes into LHD cars for these markets as Mahindra can't afford to mess it up. Good for them I say, but realistically I dont think there is a huge scope for success. Nice catch btw. :)

You have a point, the notification banned LHD cars but am not sure whether there is an exemption for limited edition cars or something

There are global markets such as Eastern Europe, South America, parts of Africa & SE Asia where the XUV - as a platform - can do really well. It will be a tough ask in the more advanced markets, not in terms of the product Itself but on account of the relatively unknown brand. M&M may also have to consider additional drive-train options to suit local market conditions in some of these markets.

The Dacia Duster is a more or less comparable effort from Renault. I can only speculate that the some of the growth Dacia as a brand has enjoyed since the Renault takeover - from less than 50K\pr year in 2000 to 350K cars \Yr in 2010 - can be attributed to the Renault brand inspiring confidence amongst buyers who may otherwise have stayed away from a Romanian manufacturer.