Mahindra's EcoSport rival, S101, caught testing in daylight

06/05/2013 - 11:19 | ,  ,   | Shrawan Raja

Mahindra's first real compact SUV, developed under the codename 'S101', has been in the news for the last couple of years. The baby SUV would be made with learnings from the XUV500 project, for a segment Mahindra hasn't sold its vehicles to before.

The tentative positioning of what would be Mahindra's smallest creation yet, could be in the 4-6 lakh rupee segment. The S101 would brush shoulders with B+ segment hatches from Maruti and Hyundai.

Mahindra S101 rear spyshot
The S101 carries a curvy roofline and horizontally oriented stop lights.

Like with all early prototypes, Mahindra doesn't want you to see what's going on in the skunk works. The mule is fully camouflaged and sections of its front and rear are missing as many part designs may not be frozen yet.

The stop light cluster is placed on either side of the tailgate unlike the Scorpio or Quanto which have them vertically stacked on the D-Pillar. The roofline is curvier than current Mahindra SUV's. The stance could be more of a hatchback on stilts rather than that of a go-anywhere SUV's.

2013 Chevrolet Trax rear
The S101 could be Mahindra's Chevrolet Trax

Considering its price and size, we are confident that the Mahindra S101 is a monocoque construction with a transverse layout. The engine displacement would be under 1.5-liters for diesel, and if there's a petrol option, expect that to displace between 1-1.2-liters perhaps with turbocharging. The XUV branding is advisable to use, perhaps this could be sold as the XUV250.

Mahindra S101 front spyshot
Design of body parts such as headlamps and grille may still not be frozen.

The obvious competitors to the S101 are the Ford EcoSport, Chevrolet Trax and the Volkswagen Taigun. Should Ssangyong rebadge the S101, it can immediately offer an SUV to fill the void below the Korando in markets outside India.

Without much ado, we're waiting for IndianAutosBlog.com's readers to send images of a more complete Mahindra S101 test mule.

[Source - Facebook.com/MotorVikatan]

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