India's largest Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, declared that it will accept bookings of its all new XUV500 from June 8th 2012. The car will now be available pan-India besides the 19 cities where it has already been launched. The model was launched in 19 cities across the country and recorded above 25,000 bookings during the second phase of bookings. From these booking requests, names of 7200 winning applicants were chosen after conducting an automated XUV500 draw contest.
Pravin Shah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Automotive Division, M&M, commented on the occasion, “It has been an incredible journey so far for the XUV500 and we are pleased to take the product national. We have been inundated with requests for re-opening of bookings not just from existing cities but also from cities where the XUV500 was not available. Now that we have ramped-up our production capacity significantly, we are confident that we will be able to take care of the growing all-India demand for the XUV500.”
The all new SUV from the leading car maker is perfect for both sedan and SUV enthusiast as it boasts of contemporary technology and safety features. Its world class leading technology is coupled with cheetah-inspired styling and luxury interiors. The popularity of the car is evident from the 22 awards conferred to it so far which includes ‘Car of the Year’, ‘SUV of the year’ and ‘Viewers Choice Car of the Year’ at ET – Zigwheels Awards 2011. Leading auto magazine Top Gear also awarded it ‘SUV of the Year’, ‘Readers Choice Award’ and ‘Best Value for Money Car’ at Top Gear Magazine Awards 2011. It was awarded ‘SUV of the Year’ and ‘Viewers Choice Car of the Year’ yet again at CNBC TV18–Overdrive Awards 2012.
Bloomberg UTV Autocar India Awards presented it with 'SUV of the Year’, ‘Best Value for Money Car of the Year’ and ‘Viewers Choice SUV of the Year’ laurels. Adding to its series of achievement were ‘SUV of the Year Award 2011-2012’ from Top Gear Malayalam and two Golden Steering Wheel Awards 2012 from Auto Bild India. For these, the SUV was voted by the viewers of Aaj Tak and Headlines Today in two categories viz. ‘SUV/UV 2011 Award’ and the ‘Viewer's Choice Award’. XUV500 was also recognised as ‘Car of the Year / SUV of the Year’ by famed auto blogs like Motor Vikatan, TeamBHP, Vicky.in, Auto Junction and Auto Beam
Reputation Benchmark Study conducted by Bluebytes, rated it the most reputed brand. In the extreme category at rallies like Desert storm, Desert Dash & Dakshin Dare, XUV500 has emerged as a winner. The car became the first diesel-run SUV to claim a victory in extreme category in the history of Indian rallying at Dakshin Dare.
