When I had gone to pick up the Mahindra Xylo from the parking lot, I wasn’t that excited, had not seen the Xylo in depth like Shrawan did during the launch, all I got were glimpses of it on the Mumbai roads.

I expected the Xylo to be another Mahindra product like the Bolero and Armada. To my surprise initially the Xylo didn’t look anything like a Mahindra, looked much different and up market, the design not so conventional, the tall stance hinted it was a vehicle bigger than the Scorpio. I won’t stress much on that as I have done it already in the initial report.

So, let’s see what the Xylo has up its sleeve.

OK, so what do we have here? This doesn’t seem like a Mahindra from any angle. Preceding to the launch, If its badges were pulled off, nobody other than any of the Mahindra engineers would have recognized it.

I can debate on its looks in five one-thousand word essays, but the crux is simple.

When I first saw the Mahindra Xylo with all of my friends in the Indian motoring journalism community, I recollect some staring at it in disbelief. Some of the leading journalists did not prefer it for its looks.

click through to read the rest of my initial impressions

This is a rare occurrence. To me these guys were competitors and not potential partners or never have I envisaged a concept of them coming together before. Recession has forced a lot of manufacturers to tie-up with each other and develop cars and technology to shave costs. In India, recession hasn’t caused this occurrence for sure.

They say sometimes reality can be stranger than fiction.

India Automotive reports Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki will collaborate to develop hybrid technology. They will then have the license to incorporate them into their products.

The trio will venture into making lithium-ion batteries, controller and electric motor technologies, essential components of a hybrid powertrain. The partnership will be governed by by I V Rao, R&D chief of Maruti Suzuki and additionally charged with the post of chairman of the committee on National Hybrid Propulsion Programme.

Mahindra’s hybrid vehicle dreams began with the Scorpio hybrid which is production ready. Tata Motors has the electric vehicle technology which looks promising on the Indica Vista EV and the Indica EV.

Maruti Suzuki hasn’t shown interest in developing hybrid or electric cars in the past, but this is a good place to start as hybrid vehicles are undeniably the next phase of evolution in the automobile industry. The three are committed to making the most out of this partnership and the results will be displayed during the Commonwealth games next year.

We don’t know if Mahindra Xylo owners are having a time of life roaming around town in their new car, but Mahindra certainly seems to. In a matter of three months, Mahindra received 15,000 bookings of the Xylo, and we’re ready to do a happy dance for this accolade!

I remember Mr.Anand Mahindra addressing all of us at the launch and describing how Lord Hanuman inspite of the extremely vigorous opposition, made up his mind to fight the battle to save Sita. Hanuman was the Mahindra XYLO here, with the opposition in Lanka played by the threatening economic conditions.

2,954 units of the vehicle found homes since its introduction. The XYLO’s looks was the topic of debate during the time of launch. People have grown used to it now, and I find the rear of the vehicle comparable to a concept car’s rear. Really, no kidding.

Tata, you getting any of this? When and where is the Indicruz?

Source- Economic Times

Shoeb Kalania, who has the regular habit of reading Indian Autos Blog, sent us a rendering of the Xylo pickup truck after he read about it on our blog. Shoeb runs SRK designs, a studio that focuses on automobiles that are months, sometimes years from a production line.

The Xylo pickup truck would come about from Mahindra’s Nashik plant later on in 2009. Demand for a lifestyle pickup in the country would understandably not be as much as in South Africa or say Thailand. The idea would be to allocate a small portion of the stock to India and the rest overseas.

After India, South Africa and Bhutan, the Mahindra Xylo has reached dealer showrooms in Nepal. Nepal is a country which has been very faithful to Mahindra, the relationship is going strong with over 15 years in the bag.

The Mahindra Xylo is a new car by all means. It makes use of 1000 parts developed specifically for it. 200 new dies were installed at its manufacturing point in Nashik with over $100 million invested in the project.

Mahindra is riding the success wave with its newest product Xylo and hasn’t the slightest plan to slow down. Dr.Pawan Goenka, President of Mahindra Automotive Sector, who spoke exclusively to us during the Xylo launch, did not disclose the exact details of the forthcoming products but affirmed the Xylo’s platform would be give birth to a series of products.

Having been launched in South Africa, Mahindra Xylo is now also available in Bhutan. Mahindra Xylo which was first introduced in India in January 2009 is doing phenomenal sales and recording high bookings.

Mahindra Xylo will be retailed in Bhutan by Singye Agencies and only two variants will be on offer - the Luxury 7-seater E8, and the 8-seater E2.

India Automotive reports Mahindra’s latest offering is now available in South Africa. The Mahindra Xylo is an MPV, rich in features and low on price. Regular readers of Indian Autos Blog will know about our Mahindra Xylo test drive, Mahindra Xylo exclusive image before the launch and the special Mahindra Xylo coverage and launch function images.

Most of the recent Mahindra TV advertisements have reached audience through Indian Autos Blog before finding its way into the TV set in your home.

The latest of the Mahindra Xylo ads are here as well, a day before they are on the T.V. They bring out the ‘Flatbed’ feature and the ‘Dining’ capability in the Xylo. Enjoy, and let us know your feedback.