The major home-grown Indian automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, was successful in grabbing considerable attention in the opening weekend of the Johannesburg International Motor Show, which is slated to continue till 16th October.
Mahindra South Africa cashed on the Johannesburg International Motor Show to display its highly reliable new XUV500 sports utility vehicle (SUV) amidst the foreign public. It is for the first time since its launch a week earlier that the car has spread its wings outside India.
Mahindra's latest product that will represent the company in the highly competitive international SUV market, has been associated with an Cheetah in terms of its appearance and performance.
Mahindra South Africa Chief Executive Officer Ashok Thakur said, "The main insights in developing the new XUV500 were taken from South Africa. When this project was kicked off, we had a big team here to do research on what the customer wanted. Among the many features which resulted in the final product was power, which is something South Africans like."
Rajesh Jejurikar, Chief Executive, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “We interacted with 1,500 consumers across the world and incorporated the feedback while designing and developing the vehicle. It is an SUV made in India, which has been adapted to global requirements.”"Also, the styling is based very much on South African inputs. To demonstrate this power, the cheetah was the closest thing, and therefore in the design, we have the whole vehicle looking like a pouncing cheetah. The front grill has been intentionally designed to look like the jaw of a cheetah and the side door handles are like the paw of a cheetah," Thakur added.
As a part of further plans, following its launch in South Africa, the company has mulled upon launching the XUV500 in various regions of the world including Africa, South America, Russia, Western Europe and Australia.
