Mahindra and Mahindra has been the king of SUVs in India with vehicles like Scorpio, XUV500 and even Bolero. Now the recent launches such as TUV300, KUV100 suggest that the company has aims to cash-in the fast growing sub 4m segment. Now, the Indian carmaker has launched NuvoSport which is nothing but Quanto’s facelift and sits in between the two recently launched vehicles. The Quanto which was launched even before Ford EcoSport didn’t able to set volume chart on fire, hence failed miserably after a decent start. The recently launched TUV300 also cater in the same segment so NuvoSport feels like a risk taken or not? Our experts already given their view on the vehicle now its critics turn to lay their opinion.
High:
- To differentiate it from dud selling Quanto, Mahindra has given NuvoSport a significant cosmetic upgrades new bull dog form air dam, new hood scoop, new headlights with separate LED DRLs making the front end much more attractive than Quanto.
- Though NuvoSport is a sub 4m metre vehicle but has seven seat configuration and oodles of space inside thanks to smart packaging. The boot space is also on a decent size with 412 liters which is further expandable up to 850 liters by folding seats.
- The SUV is based on body on frame platform and new chassis which translates into improved dynamics and left us with no reason to complaint especially on the city roads.
- The NuvoSport bears the same engine of TUV300 but a retuned one and develops 100bhp power and class leading torque of 240Nm, available with both manual and AMT gearboxes. It also gets two driving modes- Eco and power to keep balance between performance and economy.
Low:
- The front design looks menacing and it is the only good point about the overall design as side and rear profile remains almost similar to the car it’s replacing and making it dated despite carrying the new name.
- Step inside and you get the same old dashboard of Quanto; things gets even worsen with finishing and quality of materials which makes it a car from a decade back.
- The NuvoSport may be equipped with bigger engine but still it doesn’t make it a highway cruiser as it lacks punch and set up is on the softer side. Even at slow speeds it has side to side movement on rough roads.
- Although the new frame chassis has helped to improve the dynamics but in reality it still remains the tall, boxy SUV which has significant body roll while corner carving, overtaking and parking the vehicle.
Conclusion:
The TUV300 has been doing well enough and catering company’s portfolio in the compact SUV segment so there’s no point launching a Quanto facelift with such higher price. The interior quality is much more dated than its predecessor and even lesser priced TUV300 and it also misses out on number of features such as automatic climate control, rear AC vents etc. Tagged in as premium SUV over other vehicles in the lineup but unfortunately it doesn’t bring that extra tinge needed to the table and looks more sort of stock cleaning exercise from carmaker’s end.
