Mahindra XUV300 revealed: Design highlights

The long-awaited Mahindra S201 is now officially christened the XUV300. Based on the Ssangyong Tivoli, Mahindra has given an extensive makeover to the XUV300 to make it look like a baby XUV500. It will debut in the Indian market by February 2019 and will be eying the market dominated by Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Ford EcoSport. Until we can see it in flesh, here are the design highlights of the upcoming XUV300:

XUV500-inspired fascia –  

When the XUV500 debuted, Mahindra bragged about its Cheetah inspired design. The XUV300 takes the same Cheetah design language albeit with a hint of Tivoli’s European style. The XUV500's facelift-like grille has, what the carmaker calls, a tear duct line on either side of the front bumpers. The LED daytime-running-lights runs atop the headlamp units and there is a black surround on the fog lamps. There are sharp creases on the bonnet as well. The rest of the bumper is simple with horizontal louvred intakes finished with a silver bash plate. 

Sharp profile – 

The profile gets a sharp shoulder line on the doors which joins the wheel arches of both the wheels. These wheel arch lines on both the wheels are a distinctive highlight of the XUV300. The other highlight is the blacked out A- and C-pillars. The newly-designed 17-inch five-spoke alloy wheels look good with the overall stance of the Baby XUV. The body claddings running all around the car along with contrasting coloured roof-rails lends the XUV300 a true-blue crossover stance. 

Dissimilar rear – 

The rear is where the XUV300’s design departs from that of the Tivoli’s. Compared to the rounded shape of the Tivoli, the XUV300 gets a completely new posterior. The taillights extend onto the tailgate and get LED lighting signature. The contrasting silver bash plate and roof-mounted spoiler add character to the XUV’s overall design. However, the tailgate seems to have a very high loading lip which could make it slightly impractical. 

Feature-loaded interior – 

The cabin of Baby XUV is inspired directly from the Tivoli with a hint of Mahindra’s elements at all the right places. The upright centre console gets an integrated touchscreen infotainment system. The upright stance of the XUV300 gives a commanding seating position to the XUV300, claims Mahindra. The dual-tone cabin gets high-gloss black and aluminium silver elements all around. Besides the usual list of creature comforts, the XUV300 will be loaded with segment-first features. The top-spec variant will get seven airbags, sunroof, dual-zone climate control and disc brakes for all four wheels.