MAHINDRA seems to have an ace up its sleeve for the Indian market. The company has decided to modify the platform of the Xylo to offer it in a smaller avatar. From the spy pictures, it is evident that the rather large boot, where the third row of seats were offered has been chopped. The door though remains the conventional swing out format rather than becoming a hatch. In profile the smaller wheels and tyres are evident and that has resulted in the wheel wells looking empty. The profi le also suggests that till the C-pillar, nothing has been changes in this version. The wheelbase though is expected to remain the same.
While the mules we caught boast of the same front end, we expect the mini Xylo to sport the new redesigned front end which will also be seen on the regular Xylo. Inside, the Xylo will have seating for five and loads of headroom as well. The boot though will be in tune with other small cars. The mini Xylo is expected to come with a new engine, which could be a downsized version of the 1.5-litre Dci engine which the company can source from Renault. However that it will have a smaller engine is expected considering that it can go for the excise duty sops handed out to small cars. What was unexpected was the fact that these test mules were kitted out with 4WD. We expect Mahindra to launch this version by the middle of this year with a pricetag of around Rs 5-6 lakh.
