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-   -   Mahindra Thar : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/228360-mahindra-thar-official-review-13.html)

Thanks for the detailed review. One of the best and no frills review.

What Aditya and GTO have said are absolutely true. Thar can never replace a main modern primary use vehicles and at the same time there is no such lifestyle vehicle currently available in Thar's price bracket which can beat or replace it.

I see many readers are a bit disappointed about the Thar not living up-to their expectations of being/ replacing a Main Stream vehicle. However, according to me that's just a hoax. How many iterations Thar may go through, it can never become a modern budget and family friendly crossover. To stay within a budget, It may just bring along some additional beautification and creature comforts with the iterations it go through.

According to me the best comparison for Thar is itself. The old ABS version model was sold at 9.99 and the new LX-HT is retailing at 12.95. I strongly believe the 2.96 price difference is in-line with the upgrades its bringing along.

Factory fitted Creature comforts like (HardTop, Cruise Control, Infotainment, MID, TPMS, Parking Sensors, Power Windows, Power Mirrors). The additional safety feature's (AirBags, ESP, EBD, brake Assist, RollCage, ISOFIX mounts, SeatBelts for all). Lack of safety features was a big put-off for me earlier and with the new improved iteration, I blindly went a ahead and put my deposit too (Probably many fence sitters like me did too).

Heck, all these with factory warranty and other platform/Iteration improvements makes a lot of sense to me. Barebones Thar was always a big cash cow for Mahindra and this one will be too. As, currently the booking volume speaks and I wouldn't be surprised if Mahindra down the road comes with a price increase out of greed.

What Aditya mentioned is 100% true. Its a decision which makes us smile and make us frown. I guess all can cherish this quote to many of our decisions. :D

There is a AX Base Diesel MT 6S ST variant, please refer to my post #78 which has the PL.

No, 6S ST MT diesel base model is not same AX std.

The AX std model loses MLD and is only available in petrol.

The diesel base model has MLD and is just called AX. It also has premium of Rs.85k over AX std because of that.

What exactly are EDCM and POSO ?? Kindly clarify. I searched the thread but didn't find any reference to these terms.

Those are M&M internal - POSO is the name of a report. EDCM is their CRM/ OM tool.

Thar AX STD = Petrol only, without MLD

Thar AX = Petrol and Diesel, fixed soft top, with MLD
Thar AX option = convertible soft top or Hard top, like the LX. With MLD (There are also quite a lot of differences between AX hard top and LX hard top, but I guess nobody's cross-shopping those. Nevertheless if you want to know them, quote this post, and I'll happily elaborate.



:OT

I distinctly remember watching the launch event, and Anand Mahindra proudly declaring that there is no Thar variant without 4x4.

So from where has this STD variant suddenly emerged?

It is 4x4. Just doesn't have the MLD. And the side step.

I am clear on the variants and features. My post has exact same details regarding AX std model as you have mentioned. Perhaps you quoted the wrong post?

The std petrol was clever curve ball. Don’t remember such model being discussed anywhere. It brought the price below 10L - great to announce and print on the brochure. Its 4x4 though.

Had a word with the sales rep at first he was taken aback with my new found gusto in mahindra lingo :D Then he gave me the CPD (customer promise date) which as per the system is 2nd week of Feb now :Shockked:
He explained that they get this report on their systems weekly every friday and theese dates keep fluctuating, probability of delivery was conveyed as january, petrol thars have recieved more bookings then the diesel ones in delhi ncr region and diesel waiting is shorter then the petrol variant. The quickest delivery is for the soft top convertible models.

Also was told that mahindra did not anticipate such a huge demand for their 2.0 litre Petrol engine hence waiting for the petrol in delhi is more then the diesel variant.

Disclaimer: all of this was conveyed by the sales rep, so how much is correct and how much is not is subject to wider interpretation!

After listening to his lovely reasons and logic and what not i politely said he can give my thar to the next in line gentleman i am no longer waiting till february for the thar period! Told him will send someone for the refund process from my office tommorow to the showroom.My family namely my wife and mom are celebrating and thanking the lord almighty for his divine intervention and savings of 16 big ones thanks to mahindra's goof up. I am sulking like the 10 year old who could not get the toy he wanted!

They waited for months to get XUV, they waited for months to get Ecosport, recently they waited for months to get Hector - once in a while there comes a vehicle that make you wait.

Why not try another dealer? Its not like you can cancel the booking and buy something else like this - there is nothing else like it , there are no 2 door Jeeps available apart from this for now.

Sir the same story with the other dealer as well, i would have waited 6 months also had there been clear commitment from day 1 that this is the day you get the vehicle! November to december to jan to now february when the company and its dealers are so confused themselves, what does a customer anticipate. I agree there isnt any rival to the thar, but i as an individuval value honesty and clarity had the dealer been clear from day 1 i would have waited for sure but ever changing time lines is too much for me as a person :)

No one can tell you a date of delivery. Not even Anand Mahindra, let alone a dealer. The response has been unprecedented.
When Mahindra said they will make 2500 vehicles per month all their suppliers, sub suppliers, sub sub suppliers align with that process keeping a small leeway to mitigate any additional demand or cushion for any sudden blockages etc.
But you cannot expect a sub-sub-sub-supplier who is forging a raw iron component for the axles to double his output for a particular product over a month. Forging dies take months to make. Even if the die is made, another forge would be needed for such a huge demand increment. That is a very huge investment!
Now comes the next question- would this demand be sustainable or will it continue in the same manner. Going by the sales of Seltos, Creta, etc. even you all can see that the demand subsides after a initial euphoria and settles at a somewhat normal pace.

So next question is that if after about 6 months if the demand settles for a 3000 to 3500 piece per month demand would be it prudent for the company to extend its scale of operation to 5000 to 6000 today? and make all those sub sub sub suppliers also invest in a similar manner?

Automobile vendor business is a very low margin business. Any capacity under-utilization hits very badly because all those huge machines hurt a lot in terms of maintenance and bank loan interest.

So all in all your dealers are not all bad people. Problem is that they are the frontline armour who get the maximum attack from the customers.

If the ambiguity w.r.t the delivery date wasn't acceptable to you, then you did the right thing by cancelling your booking. The Thar isn't going anywhere, neither are you. Who knows, it might be a blessing in disguise, resulting in you owning a much more sorted and niggle free vehicle eventually.

You nailed it for all Thar customers, when you crave for something, which everyone wants, that want becomes a greed.

On the other hand my 2 dealers in Kanpur are chasing me for TD, and I'm taking my own sweet time:I Rule:

No hurry no worries.

Completely agree on the detailed answer that you have given sir regarding how the automobile industry chain rolls. However coming from the service industry, i have a different take on things the biggest thing that cheeses of any customer is excuses and not being able to deliver and then making further excuses for the same.

I am extremely happy that mahindra have outdone themselves and made huge improvements on the thar over the previous model. However the dealer should simply state at the time of booking that i myself am not sure when i can deliver or give a date if and when he is sure in my case from a promise of november till now to february is too weird!

Yes not all dealers are bad people sir, they should try to be more straightforward and clear with customers thats the least any customer can expect :)