Mahindra XUV500 petrol variant spotted testing

A petrol-powered Mahindra XUV500 has been spotted testing in Chennai. While the test mule looks exactly like a standard car, the ‘petrol only’ letterings painted on the fuel lid lets out that this is not a regular diesel-powered XUV500. 

Mr Pawan Goenka, president of M&M’s auto business had confirmed last year that they were planning to bring out a new 1.5-litre and a 1.0-litre petrol engines for their SUVs. While the 1.5-litre engine might sound inadequate for a behemoth like the XUV500, we think that with some help from its Korean partner SsangYong, this lightweight engine might just be perfect for this SUV. This engine is expected to be derived from the 1.6-litre unit which powers SsangYong’s compact SUV, the Tivoli. 

While a petrol-powered XUV500 might not create any ripples in India, there a few global markets like South Africa, Russia and the Middle East where petrol-powered cars are more popular. Though we can expect a few variants of the petrol XUV500 to be launched here, it is quite obvious that this car has been developed keeping such global markets in mind.