Overall, I think XUV700 pricing is along expected lines. We did know the MX variants will be similar to the Thar AX standard variants at launch, only present on paper to create some news headlines and be quickly withdrawn soon after. The AX3 and AX5 were too good to be priced at the level they were in the early news releases, M&M has, as expected, marked them down on features to make sure most customers gravitate to the AX7 variants and even AX7 Luxury pack variants to get the features they want.
The fact that M&M did not launch the AWD with the luxury option pack is totally understandable. This is exactly what almost every manufacturer has done in recent times to make the right headlines about price range. The Autocar chart which shows the price range of competitors side by side is a key chart which gets used by the salespeople in the showroom to woo customers. To have a top-end price of over 23 lakhs would have affected the positioning of the XUV versus the Safari. M&M wants XUV to show up (at least initially), as being priced a good deal lower than the Safari at both the top end and bottom end, despite better features.
However, this is just the initial posturing for a few weeks IMO. Just like Skoda introduced the 6 airbags version two months after initial lunch and Kia did something similar with Seltos through a later launch of the GTX Diesel Auto variants, M&M will soon announce the AWD with luxury pack in the coming weeks or months.
For those disappointed by the lack of features on the AX3 and the AX5 variants, please do not lose heart. The Comfort package and the Technology package have not yet been announced or publicized. I am sure these packages will most probably be available soon to be added to the AX3 and the AX5 variants to provide many of the missing feature such as keyless entry, push button start, ACC, cruise control, electronic parking brake etc. However I feel Mahendra will not announce these packages until the introductory booking period is over and say the first 25000 bookings have gone into the books, likely dominated by bookings for the full fat and highly priced AX7 and AX7L variants. This is classic price skimming strategy at work, making sure those customers who are ready to pay a higher price for a slightly better feature set of thr product have first been milked, before the next set of customers who are more value-sensitive are offered a lower priced variant with the combination of features they want.
Although a bit too big, for enthusiasts on a budget, the base MX Petrol is probably the car delivering the highest horsepower per rupee in the whole market today and for the times to come! Cars priced much higher than this, such as the top end Creta 1.5 NA variant or the Kushaq 1.0 Style offer just a little over half the horsepower and only 30-40% of the torque of the XUV700 MX Petrol

Plus, the car gets independant rear suspension, and disc brakes at rear! What is more, both suspensions come with Frequency Selective Adaptive Damping, which BMW does not provide in the 5 series unless you go to top end MSport trim, which costs nearly 6 times ex-showroom as the XUV700 MX Petrol. I am actually surprised they did not detune the MX Petrol like the did the diesel, an 150 hp tune would have been appropriate to maintain the differentiation. These days when even a sub-4 metre compact SUV can cost 12 lakhs ex-showroom, imagine getting a car from a full 2 segments above, with all the engine power and mechanical sophistication intact for the same price, minus a few gizmos like push button start and a sunroof. If I was buying a car for sheer power and driving experience at this price point, I would seriously consider this variant and get ready to hit book button as soon as it opens up in October 7th, as the MX Petrol will be very short lived in the market. Of course fuel costs are another matter, as it is bound to be a gas guzzler.
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Originally Posted by RavenAvi Thanks to Sebring for bringing this to our attention!
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This is a welcome change. The fake wood trim on the doors was jarring. The new fabric trim looks much better coordinated. Asian manufacturers just do not get faux-wood trim right,the only exception was the Harrier which had a nice trim on front passenger side even from launch days.
Also the fact that MTs do not come with the Luxury pack is clear from brochures, but it is good to call this out to prospective customers taking test drives to make sure there are no unpleasant surprises.