It's been a little over a month since Mahindra organised the Freedom Drive of the all-new 2020 Thar on 15th August. The upcoming SUV which sees its launch on October 2 will be a head turned because of its new-age design, features and engine options. However, being a three-door SUV, it limits itself to a few buyers and now Mahindra has come forward with the plan of five door version of the 2020 Thar.
Yes, according to Autocar India, Mahindra is planning to bring on a five door version of the 2020 Thar in the Indian markets soon. It will be based on a new body and will get a longer wheelbase to accomodate more space inside.
This decision came because Mahindra realised that even though the new Thar is a daily driven vehicle, still there are several buyers who'd want more space inside the 4x4 SUV. To cater to their needs, Mahindra will be building a five door version of the 2020 Thar which will come with a new body and a longer wheelbase.
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Veejay Nakra, CEO of Mahindras automotive division, said, Our objective was to recreate the icon, and obviously the first step in that direction was to create the Thar in its current three-door form. I think thats a good starting point which we are in. Who knows how the future will play out? Lets just watch this space as we go forward .
A five-door version of the new Thar will also compete with the upcoming Force Gurkha 5-door. Another tempting competition is with the soon to be launched Maruti Suzuki Jimny. Maruti is planning onto bringing a 5-door version of the Jimny which will fit in well with the Thar.
Mechanically, things will remain unchanged with the 5-door version of the Thar. It will retain the 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine which makes as much as 130 bhp with 300 Nm of peak torque. While the new 2.0-litre mStallion turbo petrol makes 150 bhp with 320 Nm of peak torque. Transmission sticks to a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed AT for both the engines.
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Feature-wise, the new Thar has remarkably improved and now gets a 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, factory fitted hard top, LED taillights, alloy wheels, cruise control and among other features. Safety features too are increased and it now gets dual airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, hill start control, hill descent control and among others.
As of now there is not even a single hint on the pricing but we are expecting it to be priced between Rs 11 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi. The SUV will be launched on October 2.
