[Kosfactor]

Now that car purchase decisions has largely moved online, when someone selects a budget for a sub 4M crossover, this one too will show up in the corner. And then you walk into the showroom and book a W7.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Coming to the XUV 500 W3, it is a thoroughly stripped down variant of the vehicle and looks bad, IMO. It will simply dilute the XUV brand at the cost of few more sales. Seems Mahindra is feeling the heat from Harrier and wants to keep the momentum going for the current gen-XUV while the new one is in the makes.

Mahindra is doing this simply to add some numbers to the bottom line. They must have dome some market research/analysis before launching this. There is not additional significant cost to make this version for them. Whatever additional sale they are able to generate out of this will only help in keeping the production line busy in a dull market and also add some numbers to the bottom line. Like GTO said, even if this adds another 100 units of sale for the company, no harm but some minute benefit for them.

Originally Posted by ashis89

Edit: This strategy, of a barebones variant, has worked very well for Creta where the base variant brings in significant sales numbers. Maybe Mahindra is thinking along the same lines. However, in the past, I have seen very rare number of W4, W5 (and similar base) variants of XUV.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...goodies-3.html (The curious case of the ‘converted’ Cretas! People buying lower variants & then adding extra goodies)

Creta example is not a perfect comparison here. The base variants of Creta fall under 10L ex-showroom and hence save a bit more on taxes. The difference between the on-road prices of base v/s next loaded variant(s) is substantial in case of Creta and does not justify the price:features ratio and hence we see more base variants getting sold. Folks are able to add the missing features from outside at a lower cost in case of Creta.

That tax/lower price benefit may not hold for XUV500's W3 variant.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ashis89

If the dealers already have high inventories, wouldn't it be counter-productive to push even more vehicles to the dealers, including new variants? They will eventually pile up in some part of the country and will be difficult to dispose off when the market recovers.

Manufacturer reps - who have their own targets - care two hoots about dealers. They'll keep stuffing dealer channels until humanely possible. The actual customer of the car manufacturer is the dealer, and each car is billed as soon as its shipped to the dealer.

Would it be better to cut production till existing inventories are cleared out? Or give discounts and clear stocks while keeping the production levels constant?

Production cuts & discounts both have limitations. And even if a manufacturer cuts production, that doesn't save it from the HUGE fixed costs. Car manufacturing is a brutally capital intensive business.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by ashis89

If the dealers already have high inventories, wouldn't it be counter-productive to push even more vehicles to the dealers, including new variants?

Hi Ashis89!

You won't believe how the auto manufacturer representatives push everything down a dealer's throat. This is just a new variant. I have seen 4 scenarios:

# If you won't bill Xylo [at least 6 a month], they won't give you the Scorpio. [a random scenario and not specific]

# Change your showroom format to centralized AC and interiors within a month [company support = zilch]

# Hire 150 employees from next month [and appoint them for needless work]

# Book X number of BS-3 vehicles before deadline or we won't bill BS-4 cars.

This is what I recall as of now, there can be many.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Edit: This strategy, of a barebones variant, has worked very well for Creta where the base variant brings in significant sales numbers. Maybe Mahindra is thinking along the same lines. However, in the past, I have seen very rare number of W4, W5 (and similar base) variants of XUV.

Creta and XUV500 cater to diametrically different customer types. Although creta base variants do sell well since it's a different segment and this segment is more value conscious, whereas XUV belongs to a completely different segment. A D-segment buyer wouldn't mind spending a little more and getting a better variant with safety and comfort features. That's why more W7's and W11's are sold than W5 or W9.

[deehunk]

I have picked up this variant as my next car, will be taking delivery on Christmas day. A kind of secularistic show-off to not wait till Makara Sankranthi. It all started with finding a heavily discounted Marazzo, later XUV 300 W8 AMT variant and finally this W3 variant. I think this credit goes to Mr.Arwin and Bipin for understanding and handling a peculiar person like me. I have stopped driving in city, so this car will be for weekend purpose. I will post pictures and a brief review in the coming week.

[BANDHAV]

Congrats.

Irrespective of the fact that how stripped down this version is, you are still be getting the biggest USP of this car, the engine. This car is all about engine. It pulls like noone's business, even with all that power on tap, it returns brilliant fuel efficiency. My current figures are 14.4 kmpl (Accorsing to MID).

I opted for the W7 as my other car Terrano XE is spartan and I wanted something with richer looking interior.

[deehunk]

Thanks BANDHAV, the dealer has thrown in a freebie of Rs.20K accessories apart from other discounts. I have so far opted for fog lamps and door claddings, another 14K is at my disposal. I too believe that a mileage of 14 kmpl is achievable with my sedate driving.

[BANDHAV]

I managed to get 94 k cash discount, inclusive of 25k of exchange bonus, topped up by reverse camera and fog lamps as FOC.

I subsquently bought 3D Rubber Mats from M2all. These fit very nicely, easy to clean and decent looking. You can surely include those in the balance.

[deehunk]

I got an exchange bonus of 40K plus 80K cash discount, at the end XUV500 W3 turned out to be cheaper than XUV300 W8. I did a PDI today, the car comes with Bridgestone Dueler H/T stock tyres. I may probably opt for 3D mats and chrome lining for windows. I will look at some innovative options for the head unit.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by deehunk

I have stopped driving in city, so this car will be for weekend purpose. I will post pictures and a brief review in the coming week.

Congratulations! I like this sort of purchases.

I always like to go for the base variant of the next segment than top of the line variant of the segment below. Features aside, the basics of it being an automobile, like engine, body, suspension , seats etc are truly an upgrade, not to mention road presence. Please do add alloy wheels , Neo Transformer is a neat one, fits well and suits the color.

This being a diesel car, needs to be driven often, diesels do not like to sit idle for long. XUV is easy to drive in the city unlike what it's size would suggest and reasonably fuel efficient as well, just do not push it in that area, it is meant to run fast

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by deehunk

I got an exchange bonus of 40K plus 80K cash discount, at the end XUV500 W3 turned out to be cheaper than XUV300 W8. I did a PDI today, the car comes with Bridgestone Dueler H/T stock tyres. I may probably opt for 3D mats and chrome lining for windows. I will look at some innovative options for the head unit.

Duster sold off?

Quick question: Do base model cars come with essentials like, stalk mounted fog lamp switch, wiring for steering controls / speakers etc?

Second thought: This could be a good project vehicle. Retrofitting all higher variant features in the base variant on weekends.

[BANDHAV]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

XUV is easy to drive in the city unlike what it's size would suggest and reasonably fuel efficient as well, just do not push it in that area, it is meant to run fast

I can vouch for both these points. It just shrinks around you. It is super essy to drive in the city and this is when my 90% driving is in Delhi-NCR's peak hour traffic.

[deehunk]

I did sell off my Duster in October, traded another old car for exchange. The W3 variant comes with Projector headlamps and rear demister/defogger and 6 way manually adjustable driver seats. The speaker wiring has to be done during head unit installation. There won't be any external switch for fog lamps, wheel covers are not provided. The base variant has electrically adjustable ORVM's plus central locking with remote. I want to invest in good ICE set up, so plan to drive initially in as it is condition. I have seen mixed feedback about Tesla type head unit, also not sure if the base variant can be fitted with such a head unit. My weekend drives itself is about 300km, so the car will be busy. It is a conscious decision to not drive in city for peace of mind.

[rohanpimpley]

Hi Guys,

I intend to buy the XUV 500 W3 version and planning to invest in the Tesla Unit of Hypersonic as per the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO1djq1ACx0

Any reviews of the same put in XUV 500 W3 Model?

Information would be great help.

Ride Safe