The Mahindra S101 was caught testing yet again, on this instance by Mr. Akhil KV, near Chennai. The S101 is developed by the R&D center located at the Mahindra Research Valley. Past prototypes were not seen with production body panels or lights and even at this stage of testing, the taillights are made of basic bulbs for the turn indicator, stop light and reverse light.
An image that came up earlier revealed the car's interior and its dash-mounted gearlever. The relocation of the gearlever from the floor to the dashboard frees of up knee room for front passengers. Datsun have placed an adjoined front seat in the Go hatchback for more occupant comfort and provide another storage solution for shopping bags, and we are inclined to think that Mahindra engineers would not discard this idea for the S101.
When launched next year, the S101 would become Mahindra's smallest SUV. It is developed on a new monocoque chassis and is reported to draw power from a new 1.2-liter three-cylinder petrol engine jointly developed with Ssangyong and a retuned 1.5-liter mCR100 diesel engine.
[Images from Team-BHP.com]