Mahindra and Mahindra’s Quanto: The New Compact SUV in Town

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is no new comer to the SUV section, in fact they are one of the pioneers of this segment in the Indian Automobile Industry. The company has tasted unparallel success in this segment with their Scorpio and XUV5OO variants. They are now trying to follow-up this success with a latest addition, Mahindra Quanto. With Quanto, the company is also trying to establish its foot hold in a sub segment of the SUV section, the compact SUV segment. Also the car comes with the all new and seemingly revolutionary micro hybrid technology, which will help increase the cars mileage by a reasonable margin. ‘In a country obsessed with mileage’, a comparatively small gesture like this will go a long way. Having said that, let us not forget the fact that our automobile industry has majorly evolved during the latter half of the last decade and people are now more interested in cars that can provide superior performance that maximum mileage. So, what matters will be more than the engine. Let us take a peak and find out what M&M is offering new with this car.

The car that rather looks like a shortened version of M&Ms established model Xylo is presently available in four variants; C2, C4, C6, and C8. All four of these variants feature 1498cc twin turbo-charged CRDi diesel engines known as mCR100. The engine is capable of churning out a maximum power of 100bhp along with 240Nm of torque. This power is transferred to the wheels via a very capable five speed manual transmission system. The fact that this new engine is made using aluminium as the major component has further helped the car to shed a fair 65 kilos from the engine also, while not compromising on the performance aspect. This has also helped to bring the kerb weight of the car down to 1640kg. The engine is capable of offering about 14 kilometres per litre mileage in city and a little more than 17 kilometres per litre in highways.

The external of the car is sure to give us déjà vu. Once we take a look at the side of the car, since our eyes are way too used to the Xylo, we will feel the car is ending rather abruptly. There are some subtle changes to the car externally but nothing more recognisable than the shorter length. Once we take a deeper look we can see that the bonnet has been tweaked a little and the front grill smells fresh. Also the spare wheel on the on the tail gate adds a charm to this machine. One thing that is very clear about this vehicle is that M&M, obviously, were not going for looks. Frankly speaking it is not that brilliant looking. Anyway, functionality wise the size of the car is rather intelligent (let us assume the third row seats are not there). By bringing the overall length of the car under four meter, the company has not only managed to make an SUV that makes a lot of sense in the city traffic, but also take advantage of the excise duty subsidy Indian government has allotted to the sub-four meter vehicles.

Standard amenities, safety and luxury features for cars in this price range are present in Quanto. AC, Power Steering and two tone granite themed dashboards comes standard will all the models. ABS, Digital Drive Assist System (DDAS), Intellipark Reverse Assist, 2 DIN music system with CD, MP3, USB and Aux in are all present in higher variants. It is presently available in six different colours; Fiery Black, Mist Silver, Toreador Red, Java Brown, Diamond White and Rocky Beige.

Price: Rs. 600,000 – Rs. 800,000

Alternative Ride: Maruti Ertiga