[harishpr]

Originally Posted by vikrantj

The question is if MnM advertises this as a 7-seater then it should be a 7-seater no strings attached. I mean what if tomorrow they fix one stool in back and advertise as 8 seater with caveat that the stool can be used for your cat or dog. And so if they are deliberately doing this this then somebody has to put a check on it. Now in India we do not have mechanism to check the safety of the vehicles (other than when involved in live accident) and force safety regulations for ALL passengers that may sit in car these cheap gimmicks will be coming out in plenty.
Now the question whether 2 row is used or not is the choice of the consumer. The consumer assumes he may have to ferry more people one day so he buys a four wheeler rather than a 2-wheeler. But that should not stop the car comapanies to provide much needed comfort on the back rows.

It is a 7 seater since it has 7 seats technically. Mahindra isn't claiming them as '7 comfortable seats.'
For that matter, most sedans and hatches say it's 5 seater but how many can comfortably take 5 on board.?

[YashD]

Well if you take premium hatchback into consideration all offers good space at the rear. Jazz, i20, Swift, polo, Fabia, Figo and Punto all has decent back-seats. The other cars lower in the segment doesn't claim 5 seats!

[pgsagar]

All cars appear raised when viewd from rear, because rear bumper is at higher plane than front. But this car's rear bumper is almost down to the road. Did Mahindra's enemies design this car?

[me_sid]

I would agree with what ranc has said, this cannot be a replacement of a Bolero, which incidentally happens to be the highest selling truck of the M&M stable, hence I dont think M&M wants to phase it out. The dash color choice is way better than the usual beige or brown ( personal opinion though). Incidentaly happened to see a test drive vehicle while returning from the airport, its looks ok in my opinion since this is the first time we are seeing a sub 4m SUV, in Indian roads, hence it would turn some heads. And I am sure this is going to sell, even though the higher end varient eats into the space of the lower end stable of the scorpio.

[HIGHNOON]

Originally Posted by zenx

Hmm. This, vs a used Dicor 2.2.....I think M&M has done a poor job of packaging this. Had at least ONE of ride/handling/middle row comfort (seat too upright), last row space, or fit n finish been better, this might've been popular.

As it stands, its not that VFM.

Hell u never know. Our good folks are quite content to lap up outlandish offerings from mahindra before.
I think mahindra is getting better and better with engine and drivetrain tech. and still is regressing or going flat with basic design ( the form , centre of gravity and all the embellishments they employ in the exterior) , suspension setup etc.
With the overwhelming success that they are getting as a auto manufacturer, they are unfortunately not achieving that refinement in other half of the architecture of a automobile as they are achieving in the engine tech.
and the success of crude, outlandish and somewhat downright agricultural products mean that 'the need to radically change approach / outlook wont be there.
sad really.
i feel a twinge of pain when i look at the two best home grown manufacturers... tata and mahindra.
why in the hell they have yet not achieved when they sure as hell have it in them.
why should the quanto weigh half a ton more than the renault duster.?
why design another vehicle when the basic problems or issues not sorted out in the first product on the platform (xylo )wont or cant be addressed.
what did mahindra learn from the dacia engineering ?
instead of trying various tweaks on logan , why did they not design a totally new sedan with a mahindra engine?
whats the big idea of trying to develop a nineties car which has failed in the indian market in the 5 years of existence inspite a of being a competent product on its own. it is mahindra or renault india which has failed it.
Toyota dumped a super successful qualis with a totally new platform ( innova). suzuki dumped a super successful zen and esteem to find favor with the all new swift and dezire.
what next from the genio platform mahindra .... a very tall sedan with 2 baby seats in the boot ?
i wont be surprised.
tata yet continues with indica when the vista which is far better is there. still continues with indigo and its variants when the superior manza could be further evolved.
Sumo is till made and continues to get different engine every quarter of a decade.
bolero priced almost at ertiga prices sells almost as much as wagon r every month.
i wonder what is wrong with the manufacturers and even still the buyer.....?
why did the tata not develop a seven seater uv (like ertiga) on the manza platform which is a broader vehicle than the swift platform.
mahindra could have done the same with the logan platform it would have had far better space than the ertiga as logan is one of the widest sedans in the market.
till they shed the old baggage and excess weight these guys are simply not going to match up to maruti ..........
..... when it comes to VFM.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

All cars appear raised when viewd from rear, because rear bumper is at higher plane than front. But this car's rear bumper is almost down to the road. Did Mahindra's enemies design this car?

MAHINDRA doesnt need an enemy when it has got a great design dept as its friend.

[YashD]

Originally Posted by HIGHNOON

MAHINDRA doesnt need an enemy when it has got a great design dept as its friend.

Completely agree, the Mahindra's designing team is really weird. They have done an excellent job with Scorpio and XUV500 but at the same time ruined the design of Xylo. Even the Bolero's exterior looks good but they have ruined the interiors of it especially the instrument cluster. I am confused what are they really upto seems like Mahindra didn't increase the salaries of the designers or appreciated their hard work on XUV thats why they decided to take a revenge by ruining the design of Quanto.

[V-16]

Thanks Nagesh and congrats for the first TD of the particular dealership. The prices seem a bit onthe higher side. What with the actual Xylo costing not much more. I had heard that it would be approx 7L max on the road. With prices like 9.22L im not sure i even want to take a look.

Secondly i also have heard from a common friend that it runs out of power when stepped on, so is not a very great car to drive on the highways. I wonder how the same 1.5 does so much more in varying cars like the Koleos, Duster, Micra, Sunny, Verito.... MEhindra should surely know this as they themselves make the Verito. I believe it has alos inherited the dynamics of the Xylo especially in body roll. Is that true?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by V-16

I wonder how the same 1.5 does so much more in varying cars like the Koleos, Duster, Micra, Sunny, Verito.... MEhindra should surely know this as they themselves make the Verito.

I was myself thinking the same ! The other day I was watching the ACI video review of Quanto where they also made a point
on good interior space.

But they were quick to mention, that for a long drive the space may not suffice. That is something which I too guessed especially.
for products which are less than 4 meters in length (including the Ecosport). If the seats, recline, that would be of certain help.
But that is some thing which I think is not there in Quanto.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Mahindra's latest position is like - "Jab Khuda meharbaan toh ..... pehalwan".

Couldn't agree more!

But isn't it the case most of the time with Mahindra? Xylo is uglier than any other MPV; Bolero has nothing great to offer, but is lucky to have even worse competitors; Thar could have offered a lot more but M&M knows that they have a monopoly here and people will buy it even if it has no novelty factor in design; verito is 'boodhi ghodhi laal laggam';. Scorpio and XUV are the only product that were developed by some designers.

[F150]

Originally Posted by V-16

Secondly i also have heard from a common friend that it runs out of power when stepped on, so is not a very great car to drive on the highways. I wonder how the same 1.5 does so much more in varying cars like the Koleos, Duster, Micra, Sunny, Verito.... I believe it has alos inherited the dynamics of the Xylo especially in body roll. Is that true?

Correction.Koleos runs on 2.0 L DCi not 1.5

Quanto surely looks ugly. As some one said on the launch thread, drive and handling come last to most Indians.

[V-16]

Originally Posted by F150

Correction.Koleos runs on 2.0 L DCi not 1.5

Oop sorry i stand corrected if its so. Till now i thought it was running the same 1.5 engine. Thanks.

[vibbs]

Thanks for the testdrive report.

Originally Posted by V-16

I wonder how the same 1.5 does so much more in varying cars like the Koleos, Duster, Micra, Sunny, Verito.... MEhindra should surely know this as they themselves make the Verito. I believe it has alos inherited the dynamics of the Xylo especially in body roll. Is that true?

A small correction, not trying to nitpick, but quanto does not have the same 1.5 as Renault cars. This is a version of Mahindra' s own older engine doing job in xylo, with one cylinder less.

[harishpr]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Couldn't agree more!

But isn't it the case most of the time with Mahindra? Xylo is uglier than any other MPV; Bolero has nothing great to offer, but is lucky to have even worse competitors; Thar could have offered a lot more but M&M knows that they have a monopoly here and people will buy it even if it has no novelty factor in design; verito is 'boodhi ghodhi laal laggam';. Scorpio and XUV are the only product that were developed by some designers.

Mahindra knows better than you or me about the customers. They would have done enough survey before launching this. It doesn't matter weather you, me or any enthusiasts buy this. Ultimately no enthusiasts would buy this no matter how good it is. Auto manufacturers are here to make money and not to fulfill anyone's dream.
All of us can sit and rant, and while Mahindra makes Money.

[naren_L]

Originally Posted by harishpr

. . . . Auto manufacturers are here to make money and not to fulfill anyone's dream.

To prove the fact just look at the monthly sale of car and you will find very few of the "best design" cars in the top 20. Rather the chart toppers are decade old designs (alto and wagonR) and their successors (A-star & Ritz) not selling well.

The things that matter the most here (to achieve great numbers) are 'Kitna leti hai' (price tag) and now 'kya piti hai' (Petrol or diesel) apart from 'kitna deti hai'. It will win 'the Masses' (number). Since Quanto having all three factors almost in favor it will give Mahindra the number it needs to achieve the number three position - no matter how we 'the class' people complaint for not fulfilling our expectations .

[YashD]

Originally Posted by harishpr

Mahindra knows better than you or me about the customers. They would have done enough survey before launching this. It doesn't matter weather you, me or any enthusiasts buy this. Ultimately no enthusiasts would buy this no matter how good it is. Auto manufacturers are here to make money and not to fulfill anyone's dream.
All of us can sit and rant, and while Mahindra makes Money.

+10 on this
Mahindra is surely going to make money and well a lot of it! They have created a strong good will among buyers especially in small towns and rural areas. Few months back my friend took his brand new Honda CR-V to his village in Bihar and most of the people were like are you dumb? Why didn't you buy a Scorpio instead! So, people are indeed going to buy it no matter what and well we enthusiasts can do anything about that. Its just that it was not expected by Mahindra especially after the launch of XUV500. As I mentioned in my earlier posts this car is gonna be popular among fleet owners and people living in rural areas and towns too are going to show interest in them as they just look at the price, space and Mileage.