Our good friends from Brazil Noticiasautomotivas who keep us updated about the latest changes in the Brazilian market have brought us a juicy update this morning.
The Mahindra Quanto was caught testing in Praia Grande near São Paulo coast in Brazil.
One of Noticiasautomotivas readers caught a train of Mahindra products doing testing rounds in Brazil. At the start of the train was a Mahindra XUV500 which has been spotted in Brazil countless number of times. In fact, Mahindra choose to run the test mule of the XUV500 without any camouflage. At the end of this train was Mahindra Scorpio and the Scorpio Getaway.
Bang in the middle was a Mahindra Quanto with chequered camouflage. The testing of the Mahinrda Quanto in Brazil is a telltale sign that Mahindra has plans to launch the Quanto in South American markets.
However, Brazil is petrol dominated market. So clearly, Mahindra needs a small petrol engine to plonk in the Quanto. The petrol engine needs to compatible with ethanol because Brazil has a flex-fuel policy. If Mahindra launches the Quanto in Brazil, it will go head to head with the Ford EcoSport.
Shifting focus from the Quanto to the XUV500, the launch of the ‘Cheetah’ will be held at next month’s Sao Paulo Auto Show. Unlike the other Mahindra utility vehicles like the Scorpio and Scorpio Pickup which are locally assembled in partnership with Bramount in their Manaus plant, the XUV500 will be a direct import from India.
For now, the Mahindra XUV500 will be powered by an mHawk engine in Brazil. There is an export-specific petrol motor under development but Mahindra is tight-lipped about it.
[Source: NoticiasAutomotivas.com.br]
