[locusjag]

Here are a couple of things that I heard about the upcoming XUV 500 from a Mahindra R&D insider whom I know in the family:
* All eyes within the company are on XUV 500 at this time, aside from the Scorpio. 80% of the R&D's time and money is now being spent on these two upcoming launches. Some efforts are on to elongate the XUV 300 into a station wagon as a concept and to plonk a bigger engine into the Marazzo (along with structural modifications to accommodate the bigger engine). The Ford-Mahindra joint venture is also running some experiments at this time. Aside from these, there's an ongoing design effort to come out with a 5 door Thar design as well.
* Unprecedented levels of electronics in the XUV 500 will be seen; they're not holding back.
- Radar to spot potholes,
- Autonomous braking,
- An eyelid tracking mechanism that will warn the driver with a voice message to take a break from driving if he/she hasn't blinked in a while,
- A 3D panoramic vision to let the driver know of the car's immediate surroundings when reversing,
- A feature whereby based on the presence of synced smartphones inside the car, the AC will send a customized blast of air according to that person's known comfort level...the wife might prefer a certain level of chilling versus the husband for instance; they'll each get a whiff of AC as per their preferences.

And during the conversation, I heard a lot more electronic features that unfortunately flew over the top of my head. (I was more eager to hear about the Marazzo and the TUV 300 Plus from him.)

Finally, the standard disclaimer applies - not all of these R&D features will actually make it to the final product.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Finally, the standard disclaimer applies - not all of these R&D features will actually make it to the final product.

Features are welcome and hope all the electronics work well. But I hope that they have taken care of certain utility/ergonomics (and of course 'fit and finish') aspects such as:

1. Sliding and reclinable 2nd row seats
2. Decent luggage space (300 Literish) when last row is used
3. When I test drove the current gen XUV 500, the driver seat was too much upright like in a van. I also could not bring down the steering wheel to the position I would have liked. If you look at all the soft-roaders/crossovers, they have almost car-like driving positions.
4. Not so high floor (current car is almost like a body-on-frame SUVs)
5. Sorted ride and handing (Hopefully some of the Ford DNA would have rubbed on to this car)

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by Guna

Features are welcome and hope all the electronics work well. But I hope that they have taken care of certain utility/ergonomics (and of course 'fit and finish') aspects

Hey, you're preaching to the choir here sir I'm all about the utility and ergonomics.

Talking about NVH, ride and handling, I can confirm that the new XUV 500 will be well sorted. That's the exact work that my contact does in Mahindra R&D; he was talking about ongoing suspension tuning and meticulous selection/fitment of components based on sound frequencies generated in motion and the parts' resonance. He goes on testing runs to validate these things.

Besides, the Marazzo showed us an inkling of how well Mahindra have upped their game in the NVH aspect and it looks like their other upcoming products will have the same too.

[CARDEEP]

Hi @locusjag

If you can, then please ask your birdie (insider) to share with company that they need bigger boot in Marazzo.

The XUV500 & (design efforts on) 5-Door Thar are good news.

Many Thanks

[Venku2015]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Here are a couple of things that I heard about the upcoming XUV 500 from a Mahindra R&D insider whom I know in the family:
* All eyes within the company are on XUV 500 at this time, aside from the Scorpio. 80% of the R&D's time and money is now being spent on these two upcoming launches. Some efforts are on to elongate the XUV 300 into a station wagon as a concept and to plonk a bigger engine into the Marazzo (along with structural modifications to accommodate the bigger engine). The Ford-Mahindra joint venture is also running some experiments at this time. Aside from these, there's an ongoing design effort to come out with a 5 door Thar design as well.
* Unprecedented levels of electronics in the XUV 500 will be seen; they're not holding back.
- Radar to spot potholes,
- Autonomous braking,
- An eyelid tracking mechanism that will warn the driver with a voice message to take a break from driving if he/she hasn't blinked in a while,
- A 3D panoramic vision to let the driver know of the car's immediate surroundings when reversing,
- A feature whereby based on the presence of synced smartphones inside the car, the AC will send a customized blast of air according to that person's known comfort level...the wife might prefer a certain level of chilling versus the husband for instance; they'll each get a whiff of AC as per their preferences.

And during the conversation, I heard a lot more electronic features that unfortunately flew over the top of my head. (I was more eager to hear about the Marazzo and the TUV 300 Plus from him.)

Finally, the standard disclaimer applies - not all of these R&D features will actually make it to the final product.

Thank you for the vital information! Please convey my two cents to your friend regarding the design of the 5 door Thar.

1. Provide a roof rib at the sides to install a roof carrier/tent.
2. Make the hardtop panels removable like the J Wrangler.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Hi @locusjag

If you can, then please ask your birdie (insider) to share with company that they need bigger boot in Marazzo.

The XUV500 & (design efforts on) 5-Door Thar are good news.

Many Thanks

Originally Posted by Venku2015

Thank you for the vital information! Please convey my two cents to your friend regarding the design of the 5 door Thar.

1. Provide a roof rib at the sides to install a roof carrier/tent.
2. Make the hardtop panels removable like the J Wrangler.

I hate to disappoint you but my relative on the inside is merely one among many employed in R&D. I doubt that he can do much by himself; and he graduated long after I did.

But - he pretty much confirmed that folks at Mahindra are listening to all of these online conversations. They are well aware and that's why they are attempting all these product refinements - a bigger boot for the XUV 300, a 5 door Thar, a bigger engine for the Marazzo etc. They'll ultimately do a cost-benefit calculation and implement only certain things...their decision to skip fitting the Mechanical Locking Differential on the TUV 300 back in 2014-15 comes to mind Cost-benefit calculations will be the likely culprit for our disappointments ultimately.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Here are a couple of things that I heard about the upcoming XUV 500 from a Mahindra R&D insider whom I know in the family:

* 80% of the R&D's time and money is now being spent on these two upcoming launches - Well, the Scorpio and XUV500 are their most important launches.

to elongate the XUV 300 into a station wagon - Love stationwagons, but it is 2020 and this is India. Wait, Tivoli is the elongated one. Can't be the XUV400 as it is Ford based

to plonk a bigger engine into the Marazzo - Needed big time. Though it still beats me why they developed the U321 platform. Body on frame, transverse mounted FWD. Why?.

* Unprecedented levels of electronics in the XUV 500 will be seen; - More the reason to avoid the initial models.. Going by the 1st gen history, better wait till the midlife facelift for all the electronic niggles to be taken care of.

- Radar to spot potholes, - What!!! Seriously what? Like the S class? Does it mean the suspension has some sort of adjustability? Or the system would just warn of a pothole?

- Autonomous braking, - Welcome feature. Though in our roads with frequent beep/dings and risk of getting rear ended. Switch off

- An eyelid tracking mechanism that will warn the driver with a voice message to take a break from driving if he/she hasn't blinked in a while, - Wonderful. Though am paranoid about a camera facing me all the time, for safety this awesome. Guess Toyota/Nissan started implementing this years ago. Could take good care of night driving fatalities.

- A feature whereby based on the presence of synced smartphones inside the car.....they'll each get a whiff of AC as per their preferences. - I feel this is some next level stuff, maybe tech gurus here can tell if this is gimmicky.

(I was more eager to hear about the Marazzo and the TUV 300 Plus from him.)

Please do tell more about the TUV300 family.
Will the BS6 be launched anytime soon?
And most importantly. Is the 1.5l 3 pot going to be carried over for the TUV300? Or the XUV300/Marazzo 1.5l will be used!!!?

Thank you @locusjag for sharing all these info here.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by DicKy

*Though it still beats me why they developed the U321 platform. Body on frame, transverse mounted FWD. Why?.

I was told that the BS6 upgrades were the first time that Mahindra's Indian R&D folks ever laid hands on the Marazzo. Otherwise for all intents and purposes, it was handed from overseas to here. The Marazzo was wholly designed by old-timers from Detroit (Chevy/GM engineers) - at least that's what I was told. This means that your question probably needs to be asked in Detroit, Michigan

Please do tell more about the TUV300 family.
Will the BS6 be launched anytime soon?
And most importantly. Is the 1.5l 3 pot going to be carried over for the TUV300? Or the XUV300/Marazzo 1.5l will be used!!!?

I didn't get a satisfactory answer at all. I was more curious about the Marazzo and the TUV but my contact kept speaking about the XUV 500. Anyway, if my contact were to be believed, the TUV 300 has no future. At best, he said that the BS6 TUV 300 Plus might be released as "Bolero Plus". He told me that Mahindra's customer research have long since found that their hardcore rural and institutional customers still love the good old Bolero too much to accept the TUV as a modern alternative. This is why the Bolero wasn't retired as originally intended when the TUV 300 was launched in 2015. And now, I am told that they're toying with the possibility of actually retiring the Bolero and renaming the TUV 300 Plus as the Bolero Plus.

[ruzbehxyz]

Video of the 2021 XUV5OO

https://youtu.be/fuxRZ0r1YdY

[Venkatesh]

Mahindra XUV500 undergoing tests on some broken and slushy roads near Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu.









Video Link

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Here are a couple of things that I heard about the upcoming XUV 500 from a Mahindra R&D insider whom I know in the family

Thanks for valuable updates. Is it possible to get more information about engine specification and expected launch period? (although majority of news reports state launch around Mar 2021 but Covid might have caused some delays)

Originally Posted by DicKy

- A feature whereby based on the presence of synced smartphones inside the car.....they'll each get a whiff of AC as per their preferences. - I feel this is some next level stuff, maybe tech gurus here can tell if this is gimmicky.

Just thinking out loud, this might be a simple implementation of smartphone synced with infotainment to adjust temperature of dual zone (or tri-zone?) AC as per pre-determined setting saved by user. Or little complex tech that can be used to determine the specific seat of person based on mobile location/Bluetooth/wifi and adjust the temp accordingly (if this feature make it to production).

Originally Posted by Guna

[*]Decent luggage space (300 Literish) when last row is used

As seen in this video, the last row headrest are close to rear windshield so 300 litres boot space seems difficult. It might be close to 150 litres.

Source:

As posted in separate thread (Scoop! Design of Ford’s XUV500-based SUV almost ready)

It looks like we might have first clear pics of Infotainment. The Infotainment size and graphic user interface (GUI) of Ford is matching with XUV500 2021 spied in India.

2021 Ford Edge crossover Infotainment:




XUV500 2021 infotainment GUI is similar to Ford GUI above with blue theme (blurry image):

Video

Source

[07CR]

Originally Posted by Beelzebub

As seen in this video, the last row headrest are close to rear windshield so 300 litres boot space seems difficult. It might be close to 150 litres.

Source:

So it will also get LED fog lamps as seen in the video. The position of them also appears nearly identical to the position of fog lamps from 2011 version.

[yd_gli]

Originally Posted by locusjag

* Unprecedented levels of electronics in the XUV 500 will be seen

I'd rather that they spend their efforts on ride, handling, driver ergonomics and interior fit/finish. The current XUV has had no improvement on these issues for the last ~10 years. Still feels crudely put together and runs like a boat. But the price has steadily gone up.

You can order a gazillion sensors from China and plonk them in. All you'll have is a dashboard that lights up like a Christmas tree every 5 mins.

But then what would I know. Maybe a boat is what the market needs

[Pulse500]

Originally Posted by yd_gli

You can order a gazillion sensors from China and plonk them in. All you'll have is a dashboard that lights up like a Christmas tree every 5 mins.

But then what would I know. Maybe a boat is what the market needs

Buyers definitely want a reliable vehicle with good ride, handling, ergonomics and looks. Many of XUV components catch rust quickly and fail. Door hinges, latches, latch cable, fuel lid, wiper system, window regulators and along list. And those rubber gaskets/beading, windshield seal, suspension bushes, headlamp projector and seals dont last even for 3 years.

All these also affect the resale value, and hence replacement cycles by buyers and brand stickiness.

I am not a fan of fancy gizmos and features that distract during driving, unreliable or add no significant value or rarely used in regular driving and are not related to real safety or ergonomics. e.g. I prefer a mechanical seat and lumbar adjuster over motorized one (I dont like adjusting seats during driving, but before it), a noiseless single zone reliable AC with mechanically adjustable vents over dual zone AC and motorized vents. Easy to service / repair and fairly priced spares than something that takes long to repair, give scratches, dents and oil stains, cut wires, destroy aesthetics and paint etc.

[EightSix]

What is the point of testing these if they are not even going to make it off the assembly line? Mahindra has been testing these cars for more than an year if I am not wrong. They seem to be falling behind in the segment with no new launch. Although I must acknowledge that the technology being tested looks impressive and with the XUV3OO and THAR they have showed that they are serious about safety.

However, instead of wasting their time with this, they should rather make actual changes to the car as the above BHPians have said.