In Indian car market, the demand for utility vehicles has been consistently rising in the past few months, owing to the changing consumer sentiment. With aspects like high levels of comfort, spaciousness, road presence and drive-ability, Indian car buyers are resorting to buying utility vehicles more often. In particular, compact Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) like Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport, Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Mahindra Quanto are faring well in the Indian car market. Also to mention, Mahindra Bolero and Tata Sumo Gold, cars in entry-level utility segment, have been constantly in demand in rural areas of the country. The models of two stiff rivals have been liked due to there low pricing and durability that is ideal for drive-ability in rural areas. Now with the launch of updated Tata Sumo Gold, the competition is expected to further escalate between the two. So to assess the rivalry between the both, a competitive analysis is made between updated Tata Sumo Gold and Mahindra Bolero.
With their powerful engines and masculine body structures, both the vehicles share a fierce rivalry with each other. While Mahindra & Mahindra is renowned for manufacturing durable vehicles with the example being of passenger cars and commercial mini trucks. On the other hand, Tata Motors has build up substantial goodwill among the Indian buyers owing to the superlative performance of its vehicles. Tata Motors utility vehicle Sumo Gold, stays true to the reputation of the company as it has got all the features of an full-fledged SUV.
The largest auto maker by revenue, Tata Motors has updated its Sumo Gold model and now is available in five variants whereas Mahindra Bolero is offered in 8 variants that differ on features and engine specifications. In terms of pricing both the cars carry almost identical figures as Tata Sumo Gold is now available from Rs. 5.93 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) while Mahindra Bolero carries an ex-showroom price of Rs. 5.87 lakh for the introductory variant.
Talking about features, the updated Tata Sumo Gold gets an advanced music system that supports USB and Bluetooth. Apart from these features, power windows and dual air conditioner are present on the car. Coming to Mahindra Bolero, it boasts of advanced functions like digital display system that provides information regarding the different aspects of the car. While for safety features, Mahindra Bolero gets child lock system, engine immobiliser. Its rival Tata Sumo Gold gets door ajar warning system, seat belt warning system and rear high mounted stop lamp. However, the aforementioned features vary accordingly to the type of variant.
Coming to the positives and negatives of both the cars, it must be said there are quite difficult to choose any particular car between the two. As Mahindra Bolero boasts of advanced new features, its counterpart Tata Sumo Gold is mechanically more sound. According to industry experts, both the cars cater to different set of audiences and for choosing a front runner amongst the two it would be not feasible.
