Thursday, December 17, 2009

What the MUC? The US Gets a Version of the Mahindra Xylo in 2012


If you have explored around the Mahindra North America website, you have probably seen the “Future Vehicle” tab containing a highly stylized image of a vehicle and the tagline stating “MUC Expected US Landing 2012”. No further description is given, so Mahindra Planet will lay down some speculation:

Most likely, the vehicle shown and referred to as MUC is an iteration of the Mahindra Xylo. The Xylo was launched in India in January of 2009. It was originally designed to be a high capacity people mover for domestic and world markets. The design is body-on-frame like the TR20/TR40 and Scorpio SUV. It is currently equipped with a diesel 4-cylinder engine like other Mahindra trucks. For more info on the Xylo click here: Mahindra Xylo Coming to America?

Since the release of the Xylo last winter, the rumor has been that this vehicle will reach US shores in some form. The Xylo was designed from the start with intentions to be a world-market vehicle. It is likely that the MUC is some derivative of the Xylo platform.

Several sketches and renderings of Xylo variations have been circulating the web for quite a while. Interestingly, most have shown some type of pickup truck version. Looking closely at the image on Mahindra’s website, it’s easy to make out the shape of an integrated body/cab pickup version of the Xylo. Kind of a Mahindra version of a Chevrolet Avalanche.

The Xylo platform was designed at birth to handle either Mahindra’s diesel engine or hybrid powertrain. The version coming to the US could very well contain the hybrid system exclusively.

Maybe the most important aspect of the MahindraNA.com teaser is that Mahindra is looking forward and already planning future product for the US market. This is positive reinforcement of Mahindra’s long term commitment.

Source: MahindraNA.com, and IndiaAutosBlog.com (lots of good Xylo links and photos)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We'll probably see that (and pigs fly) before we ever see the trucks.



Dick