[SalsaCorp]

Hasn't Mahindra done the same with the XUV and Scorpio too ? And Honda City is far more accomplished, superior quality and reliability wise, its almost on par with a Toyota, can any Indian brand match the reliability of a Honda or a Toyota ?

Sir test drive a Honda Jazz Petrol & diesel and immediately test drive maruti baleno back to back and then you talk about top notch quality of HONDA.

[StepUP!]

Once we have accepted that looks are subjective then, why to debate over looks? If a person finds one car beautiful or quirky, then be it. What's the point in bringing in Indian / Foreign manufacturer, a particular car is accepted then why not this etc. You can't force someone to buy or hate a particular car.

Even after quirky looks if a car sells ex Ecosport, Dzire and even after beautiful looks a car fails ex Punto, Fiesta we all know there are N number of reasons which come into play at that point of time. And that is what called pulse of the market which for sure Maruti knows in the car market and Mahindra knows in the SUV space.

It took Maruti, Tata, Mahindra, VW, Ford, FIAT years to create an image or perception in the minds. One good product or one bad product is not going to improve or tarnish that image all of a sudden.

Being passionate about a car or a brand is fine but that doesn't make people fool who bought another car which you hate.

No one is stopping you from buying a particular car! So enjoy the car and don't waste your time in futile efforts to convince people otherwise.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by StepUP!

........ Being passionate about a car or a brand is fine but that doesn't make people fool who bought another car which you hate.
No one is stopping you from buying a particular car! So enjoy the car and don't waste your time in futile efforts to convince people otherwise.

Very well put indeed! Most of us have fallen into this trap (me included!) at one time or another - and your timely reminder should put us on guard not to repeat the error!

[Behemoth]

Mods any idea on when we would get the Team-BHP official review?
The debate on the design in this thread has become quite aggressive and people who have not even see the car are being unnecessarily biased about it. It is fine to have a healthy debate and discussion, but some of the comments are downright personal and offensive! We are have a right to share comments openly on designs, but being vitriolic against other members views is just not acceptable for Team-bhp.

I hope that members can exercise some self control in this aspect and limit the discussion to constructive and non-personal comments.

Thanks,
Behemoth

[rajshenoy]

Somehow i am getting a strong feeling that M&M has plans to stretch this into an Ertiga like MUV as well.

I liked both front and the backview, but the sideview makes me feel that they decided to abruptly squeeze the rear side, either to make it appear a segment lower than the TUV OR to accomodate the 3rd row of seating in future(and still have sub-4m mark ?)

[JayD]

Drove the KUV 100 for a fair bit yesterday and here are my observations

Looks- The most controversial bit of the car. if you ask me , I would rate it 0/10 for the only reason that I cant rate it lower. mahindra really really needs to stop getting inspired by random animals and bugs, instead should try moving towards a more subtle design trend. The front is just too busy with too many things going on.The headlights are very large, with a lot of random elements, DRL, a long red line, KUV text ad what not. All said and done, the front makes the car look big, but the side and rear make it look really puny and beat sized. (then again looks are subjective, and a majority of the people coming to the showroom loved it)
I was really not looking forward to the rest of the car now.












Interiors- This is where the things started changing. The dash is pretty well laid out and the gear lever is actually pretty nice to use.materials are of above average quality, and the piano black accents look nice. They seem to have taken inspiration from the Citroen Traction Avant for the gear position.

The audio system is very fiddly, and the joystick looks like it will break off in a week.

The 6th seat is a scam and i really don't know why Mahindra is offering it. The space is enough for a child at max, and that too will be a hindrance for the driver. In any hard braking or an accident, one can be sure to have the gear lever will hit the center passengers face. How can ARAI allow something like this beats me .

What the 6 seat option gives you is instead, a very comfy armrest with a space for storing phones etc. With the dash mounted gear, one does not need to even move you hand, and all gearshifts can be effortlessly made with just the wrist. Its that easy.

The seats themselves are large and very comfy. Legroom for the front passenger is brilliant and once can really stretch out. The door armrests are also at a usable height.

There is a hidden storage space under the front passenger seat, and it can be taken out like a basket with handles also. Neat. Note the 6th seat folded down to serve as the armrest.






Real Seat - Again Very impressive. The seats are very adequate, and have enough lumbar support. Legroom is very impressive and one can put your feet under the front seats too. The rear floor is fully flat like the XUV and even has a storage space underneath it.

The recline of the backrest is very comfy and not upright like most hatches. There is a center armrest and the door armrest are at the correct height again.

The only fly in the ointment for the rear passenger is the blacked out panel for the rear door handles. It is exactly the the place where you look out, and hence to see whats happening right outside, one has to lean forward. It also obstructs the drivers vision while reversing. But overall, it is a very pleasant place to be, considering the size of the car.

Drive - Diesel- The motor is pretty refined like most modern Mahindras, and does not transfer vibes like what you would expect from a 3cyl diesel. The rapid DSG i drove yesterday had very noticeable vibrations on the seats, gear lever, doors etc, which even the rear passenger could feel, at idle.

The clutch is nice and light, and not too deep. gives sufficient response and should pose no problems during your city drive.

The gearshift is simply brilliant. I loved it. Very slick action, and its really effortless to use, especially in the 6 seat option with the seat folded down. Good job Mahindra! Fiat please take note, this humble first attempt small car has a far far better gearbox than the one on the range topping abarth.

The diesel engine itself is very nice and there is very little lag. It picks up pace nicely and movement upto 100 is very good. Its no sports car, but will keep any normal driver happy. We were 3 ppl in the car with AC, and it had no issues at all. The responsive motor and the light clutch/gb make this an awesome city car. On the highways too, i feel as long as you stick to 120, it should do fine.


Drive: Petrol- I was really curious to drive Mahindra's first petrol car, and decided to wait for the long queue. The motor is a typical low capacity 3 cyl, and the vibes can be felt to a little extent. The clutch on the car was almost dead, and had to be revved to move. I will reserve my judgement on this motor for now, because the Petrol TD cars were mostly driven by new drivers yesterday and i could hear them over revving, crunching gears etc very frequently.

The motor itself is not too impressive, with just about enough power, and no boost to look forward to, since there is no turbo. Teh diesel would be the pick of the lot for me.


Suspension- The ride is pretty nice and the handling is par for the segment. Nothing to complain about.

Additional points:

-The showroom i visited took over 100 bookings in one and a half days.

-Even though it was Pongal, the crowd in the showroom was more than the adjacent Mall. People were waiting for more than an hour for the test drive.

-Meanwhile the next door Fiat showroom was empty and the avvy lay there waiting for at least one person to look at it. Wonder why they are still in business.

-I met at least 4 families who booked the car , and wanted to take a TD just for the heck of it. When questioned, they said, "Its a mahindra SUV, whats there to test drive" No wonder Mahindra stuck to calling this an SUV and not a hatch.

-The positioning and styling, while not appealing to me or most online enthusiasts, seems to have hit the sweet spot with the target audience.

- ABS Standard, and Airbags optional on all variants. Hats off Mahindra. Great job.


- Price on road Chennai for the k8 Diesel is 8 lakh, and the petrol is a lakh or so cheaper. I feel the diesel is priced a lil too high, and too close to the TUV.

To sum it up, a great effort by Mahindra, and I'm sure it will be a hit. I just hope they tone down the styling for future vehicles.

[Rajeevraj]

Lot of discussion around the design, I think we may be losing the bigger picture on the car as a whole. Have not seen the car in flesh, but based on the Video Reviews and other details, here is my brief perspective.

Design

• Most discussion here after launch has focused on this one aspect. Personally agree that it is quirky to the core.
  
• Having said that, we generally like lot of lines and cuts and quirkyness. Good example is the new Alto 800/K10 as compared to the previous generation. Has that resulted in reduced sales? No. They continue to be best sellers.
  
• Overall, in my opinion, KUV sales are not going to be impacted just due to the quirky design elements. Personally I think it will help.
  

Pricing

• I initially thought it would start at a sub 4L level, putting it in a direct fight with the Celerio and Zica.
  
• But overall seeing the car and features, it does belong to the Bold/Grand I10/Swift territory.
  
• Hence Pricing I think is pretty good and also manage to straddle the Celerio/Zica (assumption)/Wagon R segment. The K4+ variants sit pretty close to the Celerio top end and the K2+ (although poorly equipped) can tempt Wagon R buyers with its 6 seater option. The K6 and K8 are pretty much in the Grand i10, Swift, Bolt territory.
  
• Overall, there is no reason to discount the KUV due to the price.

Drivability

• To early to comment, from the reviews so far, looks like the petrol is on par with the segment or slightly below, and the diesel is quite competitive with the best in the segment. Expect to see a lot more diesel sales.

Space and Features:

• Standard ABS across the range is a big plus. Optional Airbags in every variant is also welcome. Speed sensitive locks, Emergency brake flashing, ISOFIX child seat mount are welcome features (in top variants).
  
• Innovative storage features- including below passenger seat, under the back seat is a big plus and will attract attention. Quite useful.
  
• Several segment first features like DRL's and Micro Hybrid tech are good plus points.
  
• Overall pretty well equipped for the segment. No one will complain on lack of features.

The (In)famous 6th Seat

• Whether we like it or not, this one feature can pull buyers to the KUV.
• Kids on the front seat, on the lap in the front and back seat, in the boot area of hatch backs are all common sights in India. Stuffing more people into a car is also common. Recently we read instances where there were 6 in a Baleno, 6 in an Eon, 8 in a verna (Came to know because these were involved in accidents and were reported here). Point is, it is extremely common.
  
• Enter Mahindra with a 6 seater with a Lap belt. This will attract a lot of people including those mildly safety conscious.
  
• For the highly safety conscious, the usage as an arm rest or as a place to keep something will also add value.
  
• Overall, this is definitely going to be a selling point

.


In summary, I think Mahindra has a winner on their hands. Mahindra's jazzy marketing with the 'Kool' SUV stuff and Ad's with Varun Dhawan as a brand ambassador will definitely get people interested. Been watching google search trends over the last few days and the KUV100 is consistently in the top (~100,000 searches average per day).This is followed up with a product that can match up to the competition and also beat it in some ways.


I don't think it will sell 10K units, but my take is that it will manage ~5K units comfortably with a potential to go up more if received favorably in the tier 2 and 3 markets.

[Visran]

I wonder why Mahindra has not added an AMT as an option, Since they make their AMT gearbox in-house it would have made perfect sense to launch it as an option from the word go.

[romeomidhun]

One thing I wanted to comment is Mahindra designers are good at designing some good-looking rears - as in the case of TUV300 and KUV100!

Had the rear design of KUV been used in a 4m body which is having a slightly rounded TUV body shell, it would have been a looker, IMO.

TUV - good rear and side, but boring front.
KUV- good rear, okish front but horrendous side.
XUV - OKish rear, overdone front and side.

When will they be able to design one car having all the good design points of their cars?

[Karthik Chandra]

Originally Posted by Visran

I wonder why Mahindra has not added an AMT as an option, Since they make their AMT gearbox in-house it would have made perfect sense to launch it as an option from the word go.

Normally companies have some features in store to be updated in the facelifts. AMT launch will follow eventually. It'll give an opportunity to enable the KUV to be in the news and ensure another round of brand recall in the industry once the initial hype fades away.

[GTO]

Doesn't it look better without the overdone design elements + bigger wheels?

Shared by Alok Bisht

Edited:


Original:

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by GTO

Doesn't it look better without the overdone design elements + bigger wheels?

Shared by Alok Bisht

Edited:
Attachment 1462489

Original:
Attachment 1462490

This is exactly what I was saying. It could have looked way better without the overdone curves and creases.

Heck they can even slap on the spare wheel at the back for a more crossover stance.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

This is exactly what I was saying. It could have looked way better without the overdone curves and creases.

Heck they can even slap on the spare wheel at the back for a more crossover stance.

Yes, bigger wheels would have done justice to this Hatchback and would have added some creditibility to its stake of being a mini-SUV - they should have gone in for at least 205/60 R 16 tyres (same as ecosport).
Also, what I don't understand is why Mahindra didn't take the car to the full length of 4 m and instead stuck with ~3700 mm! They could have easily made it a foot longer and made the body more proportionate and the boot larger.
Putting on the Spare wheel on the hatch is probably technically impossible now as it is top opening hatch and unless they give some contraption like the Fiat Avventura, the spare wheel on the boot would not work.
What I feel is that Mahindra are probably going to come up with a beefier 7 seater MUV/ SUV version of this and also up the length to around 4.4m and add chunky tyres and peg that a segment higher. Size wise that may look a lot more proportionate and aesthetic.

[Harry Iyer]

Saw a big fanfare at Anant Cars (Mahindra Showroom) on Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore. My father had whatsapp'd me earlier in the morning that Mahindra had launched a new vehicle at 4.42 lakhs ex-showroom called KUV100. So, decided to walk right in. Excellent salesmanship from one Mr. Ashwath at the showroom - spent a lot more amount of time with the car("SUV") than I had expected to.

Here is my take on the car ("SUV")

• The car ("SUV") looks majestic from the front, but positively HIDEOUS from the side.
• Mahindra could have given bigger tyres for vehicle of this stature
• Variant-to-variant, Mahindra has priced the diesel EXACTLY 1 lakh Rs more than the petrol. I would spend that extra 1 lakh for the diesel since I have my doubts about the petrol engine (neither too powerful, nor smooth)
• 3-cyliner petrol for this price? come on!
• Gear stick could take some time getting used to but not bad at all. Kudos to Mahindra for having the courage to do something different
• I would go for the controversial 6th seat at the front - just to use it as an armrest! You definitely cannot fit anyone other than a 7 year old here.
• Unique rear door handles intrigued me
• 243 litre boot might sound good on paper - but you will have to lift the luggage high up to load it in. Also, the double barrel tail lamps get in the way
• 170mm ground clearance and increased suspension travel are encouraging
• Interiors are better than I had expected out of a Mahindra vehicle in this segment
• Anyone thinking of buying this car ("SUV") should first take a test drive and do some hard braking at speed - see how it feels.
• Outside visibility does not inspire confidence
• Head room is amazing (I am 6'2'')
• Pricing is a bit ambitious
• No promise made on delivery date if booked
• I was offered 2 years warranty (1 lakh Kilometers!)
• Fantastic move by Mahindra providing ABS & EBD as standard on ALL variants. Airbags optional on ALL variants, not just the top end. I am not going to buy this car ("SUV"), but I sincerely hope it makes other car manufacturers think twice about their responsibility. I for one would definitely like to spend more on safety than luxury.

This is strictly my perspective on the car. I guess it'd be a hit with people who want their vehicle to have a road presence more than anything else.


Here is the on-road price in Bangalore for the different variants

[black_rider]

Originally Posted by GTO

Doesn't it look better without the overdone design elements + bigger wheels?

Shared by Alok Bisht

What Mr.Bisht has done is much more than just remove the creases and bigger wheels. He has made the wheel arches bigger, increased the length of both doors, and the boot area (basically stretched the passenger cell), and elongated the engine bay + hood as well, to be in line with the new body. And thus created a completely new car. No way can Mahindra match his neat looking design even if they give bigger wheels and lesser creases