The Mahindra XUV500 is a compact Sport utility vehicle produced by the Indian automobile company Mahindra & Mahindra. The XUV500 was designed and developed at Mahindra's design and vehicle build center in Nashik and Chennai, and is manufactured in Mahindra's Chakan & Nashik plant, India. During its development, the car was code named 'W201'. It is the first monocoque chassis based vehicle the company has produced. First launched in 2011, the XUV500 compact SUV was introduced as the home-grown automaker’s flagship model in India. Over the years, the SUV has garnered a lot of accolades and popularity among enthusiasts and critics alike for its design and feature list. The XUV500 received its mid-life update in 2015, which further increased the premium quotient of the SUV. The XUV500 also comes with an efficient automatic transmission and an all-wheel drive system along with a host of comfort and safety features. The XUV500 is less well known outside India than the Mahindra Scorpio. The XUV500 was relatively popular in the South African market with sales exceeding 1200 units by February 2013. Mahindra's XUV 500 secured first place in the 2014 Desert Storm Rally. The car also clocked the fastest time in three sections of the rally.
History
The XUV500 was launched in 2 variants in 2011, sharing the same engine: the W6 in two-wheel drive only. The W6 includes a 6-inch monochrome infotainment display, two airbags, ABS with electronic brake-force distribution, and disc brakes on all wheels. The W8 which can be specified in two or four-wheel drive. The W8 adds GPS navigation, six airbags, a touch screen, electronic stability program with rollover mitigation, Hill Hold and Hill Descent control, alloy wheels, and leather upholstery. The company later added a W4 base variant in 2013.
First facelift (2015-2018)
The XUV500 was facelifted in May 2015. After the facelift, the top-end W10 variant was launched. Automatic transmission was announced to be implemented on the W6, W8 and W10 variants on November 2015, being available on December 5, 2015.
Second facelift (2018-present)
On April 18, 2018, another facelifted version of Mahindra XUV500 was released. It was released with a more powerful engine and a horsepower increase of 15 hp
Exports
Mahindra XUV500 is also designed for international markets. The company has announced that the SUV will be exported to South Africa, Australia, Chile, Peru, Nepal, Italy, Spain and New Zealand via complete build-up. As per the year 2018, the Mahindra XUV500 already became a global car exported to 26 countries, including all the above-mentioned.
