Mahindra’s new people mover

MAHINDRA and Mahindra have introduced a new people mover in India which could make its way to Australia.

The Xylo is the first family hauler produced by the Indian company best known for its workhorse utes.

Mahindra is promoting the vehicle as the Great Indian Travelling Machine, and says the vehicle provides a comfortable ride even for six-foot-plus customers.

Currently Mahindra only sells the Pik-Up ute in Australia, but the local importer TMI Pacific said it would be interested in taking the new vehicle if it was made available to export markets.

Mahindra sells the Scorpion SUV in India, which is simply a Pik-Up with a wagon tail. It can seat up to nine people, but was not built from the ground-up as a people mover as is the case with the Xylo.

It comes standard with three rows of seats as well as more headroom and legroom.

It runs a lightly revised version of the same 2.5-litre turbo diesel engine that powers the Pik-Up and generates 83kW.

Mahindra is talking up its performance, pointing out that it can “fly” from 0-60km/h in 5.8 seconds, but does not provide a 0-100km/h figure.

The only available gearbox is a five-speed manual.

The Xylo uses multi-link suspension front and rear, which is an improvement over the Scorpion which has to make do with a leaf-sprung rear end.

While the Xylo will be made available in several different vehicle trims, Mahindra is talking up the range-topping model which comes with features usually reserved for far more expensive models.

Body-side chrome cladding, driving lights, dual-zone airconditioning, puddle lamps fitted to the bottom of the doors, a digital centre display showing a compass, the temperature and transmission gear are all available in the range-topping car.