Mahindra XUV500 facelift pictures leaked

Spy shots of the upcoming Mahindra XUV500 facelift have been leaked on the internet. The low resolution photos show the completely undisguised XUV500 in its production-ready avatar, draped in an orange paint scheme. 

The front of the new XUV500 will get a major styling revamp, though the car is still easily identifiable as an XUV500. The front fascia gets a revised grille and foglamps with even more chrome, as well as redesigned headlamps with new LED DRLs. The lower bumper has also been revamped and now integrates a bash guard to increase the car’s rugged appeal. And while the rear seems to have been left untouched, it will get new 10-spoke alloy wheels.

Being just a facelift, we expect Mahindra to retain all the mechanical bits from the current car. The new XUV500 will be based on the same monocoque chassis and powered by the 2.2-litre four-cylinder mHawk diesel engine. This engine produces 140bhp and 330Nm of torque, and can power either the front wheels or all four wheels depending upon the variant.  While the current XUV500 is available only with a six-speed manual transmission, we expect Mahindra to launch an automatic gearbox for this facelift. 

With its huge proportions and massive road presence, the XUV500 has managed to attract a huge fan base in the country. The seven-seats and ample cabin space appease the Indian customers’ ‘bigger is better’ philosophy and its decent equipment levels rank it high on the value for money scale. This has helped Mahindra achieve consistent sales figures for the XUV500 over these years, despite the car not getting any major upgrades since it was launched in 2011. And though the facelift will not be very different from the current car, we expect it to continue to sell in large numbers. The XUV500 rivals other seven-seaters like the Tata Safari Storme and the Tata Aria.