Today, Mahindra has partly revealed the all-new KUV100 compact SUV though a couple of official images. Said to be designed with inputs from Pininfarina, the iconic Italian design studio that Mahindra has recently acquired, the KUV100’s appearance has been honed to attract mildly affluent Indian youths who’d otherwise have gone ahead and bought themselves a new hatchback.
Not much of a SUV then, a pseudo crossover at best, the KUV100 is a sub-4 meter long vehicle that stances as a compact, yet voluminous hatchback. The KUV100’s design has short overhangs, a clamshell bonnet, sculpted sides and aggressive bumpers, along with a prominent haunch at the back. Let’s delve deeper into the Pininfarina stoked lines and contours in this brief design review.
The wraparound headlamp clusters, which are shaped to be a bit RR Evoque-ish, feature L-shaped LED signatures and blacked out nacelles.
Emanating from the headlamps are these gloss black finished fixtures, proudly branding the mFalcon name, which represents the manufacturer’s new family of petrol and diesel engines.
The slimmest grille ever offered on a Mahindra vehicle retains the brand’s toothy signature, highlighted by brushed silver accents.
The busy front bumper gets a two tone treatment; with a body coloured upper half and a blacked out lower section that also hosts a scuff plate finished in dull silver.
The “dynamic” fog lamps feature chrome trimmed borders. The same theme is repeated on the rear reflectors.
The undulations on the mirror caps actually represent “pumping fists”
The distinctive, strong rear haunch creates an arch over the rear wheel arch flare and extending into the tail gate, shadowing the petal shaped tail lamps.
The KUV100 gets hidden rear door handles a-la Chevrolet Beat, but dull silver trimmed surrounds kind of give them away.
The top-end K8 variant of the KUV100 will be shod with 185/65R14 tubeless footwear with alloy wheels; body cladding on the sills and noticeable wheel arch trim in contrast colour indicate its “SUV character”
Though the rear end hasn’t been revealed yet, spy shots, like the one above reveal a flush fitting rear bumper that has been effectively designed to keep overall vehicle length less than 4 meters. The bumper also features a plastic trim running across, which hosts the registration plate recess flanked by chrome bordered reflectors. Other visible highlights on the posterior include a rear wash/wipe function and an integrated spoiler.
The KUV100 will be powered by two fresh engines from Mahindra’s new mFalcon family – a 1.2-litre, dual VVT petrol motor dubbed the mFalcon80, good for 82 bhp @ 5500 rom and 114 Nm of torque available between 3500-3600 rpm, along with a 1.2-litre, turbo-charged diesel motor called the mFalcon75, which will develop 77 bhp @ 3750 rpm and 190 Nm of torque available between 1750-2250 rpm. Both will be starpped to 5-speed manual transmissions.
