MADRID – Indian automaker Mahindra’s expansion into western Europe starts virtually from scratch with the KUV100 mini-CUV launched domestically two years ago.
What Mahindra calls the “Kool Utility Vehicle” initially will be sold in Italy and Spain. The company sold just 133 cars and utility vehicles and 44 pickup trucks last year in the Spanish market of 1.24 million vehicles.
The automaker’s initial sales forecast for Spain is 600 vehicles, according to Fernando Fernandez, general manager of Mahindra in Spain. “The target is to reach 4,000 units in 2021, something that requires an important expansion of our distribution network, now with only 17 dealers, that we want to increase to 45 for 2021,” he says.
Fernandez also wants to expand Mahindra’s service network, which currently is focused on the farm tractors that are an important source of turnover for the brand’s Spanish subsidiary.
The KUV100, exhibited at last year’s Barcelona auto show, is meant to compete with the Dacia Duster and Suzuki Ignis at the low end of the market. Built in Chakan, India, the front-wheel-drive compact CUV measures 145.7 ins. (3,700 mm) long and 51.2 ins. (1,300 mm) wide, while a 94.5-in. (2,400-mm) wheelbase is achieved by pushing the wheels to the vehicle’s corners.
The KUV100 is powered by a 1.2L 3-cyl. mFalcon G80 gasoline engine producing 82 hp and linked to a 5-speed manual transmission. It will be available in six colors and four bi-color combinations. Features include rear-parking assistance, hill hold control and hill descent control.
The CUV’s price will be €11,400 ($14,100) for the K6+ equipment level and €13,250 ($16,400) for the K8, but for the K6+ Mahindra initially will offer it at a promotional price of €10,450 ($12,900).
The KUV100 is in the vanguard of Mahindra’s plans to introduce a new pickup or utility vehicle into Europe every year from now to 2022. An updated Goa midsize SUV is to launch in 2019, followed in 2020 by another compact CUV using either a 1.6L gasoline engine or only a battery. Scheduled for 2021 are all-electric or 2.0L-engine-powered versions of the 7-seat XUV500. A reworked Thar based on the Jeep Willys platform is due in 2022.
