What’s going on with the Mahindra Thar 6-seater?
Looks like Mahindra has not had the best time with the new Thar.
Yes. I dare said it. The Mahindra Thar hasn’t been as successful as it should have been. An international lawsuit for copyright claims and a staggeringly questionable 4-star GNCAP rating means there is something with the car that the high sales figures won’t be able to correct.
So, let’s talk about what all is currently brewing up around the supposed launch of the 6-seater variant. First of all, let me tell you that the 6-seater variant will NOT be re-launched. More on that later. All of this began when news started floating around that dealers were updating their price lists including the AX 6 variant. That would be strange considering Mahindra discontinued that variant to avoid losing a stellar 4-star GNCAP rating.
You see, Global NCAP chooses that variant which will face the “biggest challenge in the crash test.” In simpler and more direct terms, they mean to say the variant that will probably be the cheapest and hence, most likely to sell in India. The 6-seater variant has two bench seats at the rear that do not even have seat belts. So… you see where we are going with this?
The 4-star GNCAP rating would stand void, prevented from being used anywhere for any communication and a new rating would be given as told by Alejandro Furas, secretary general of Global NCAP in an interview given to Autocar India last December. He elaborated that they would buy that new car and putt it through a safety test and give it a new rating.
And there lies the problem. This is exactly why Mahindra would never risk selling a variant that compromises on their newly earned reputation for making safer cars. They stand they only competitor to Tata Motors in terms of safety in India. Moreover, the company is on a huge backlog of orders for India’s highest safety rated off-roader. So, I don’t see a need for Mahindra to justify a re-launch for a variant that loses them their crown jewel.
In fact, it was confirmed via a statement to Autocar India by Rajiv Mehta, Head Global Product Planning at Mahindra that “The information about reintroduction of the AX 6 seater variant of the all new Mahindra Thar is incorrect and it is critical to highlight that there is no change in our variant mix following the Global NCAP review and rating”.
