So, I was driving to work as usual in the morning with a lot of things going on in the back of my mind. The North-East monsoon caused some serious cloudburst last night and the kids were having fun at home since many schools declared a holiday today. I always used to have an eagle’s eye for all those camouflage wrapped cars running in the suburbs of Chennai. But somehow I totally missed this one, standing right in front of me in a traffic signal of the busy Grand Southern Trunk(GST) Road. I am a part of the Mahindra family and this photograph was shot by me from the driver’s seat of my TUV 300. Yes, the vehicle you see here is the SsangYong Tivoli code-named Mahindra S201.
I am a big fan of the SsangYong Rexton Rx5/Rx7. It was priced competitively at launch and the Koreans are giving a tough fight to the Japanese in the Indian automobile market. 70% share of SsangYong was acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited in February 2011. I strongly believe in Swadeshi brands and would prefer them anytime. I was wondering if Ssangyong were to launch any of its mini SUV(Tivoli/Actyon/Korando) in India under the Mahindra brand and looks like it’s going to happen in the near future.
The moment I looked, I easily mistook it for some hatchback. But the tail-lamp was unmistakably Tivoli. It has a low and planted stance like Nexon; It was like looking down from the taller TUV 300. While the original Tivoli is a little longer than 4.2 meters, I am not sure if the Indian version would be sub 4 meter. It looked shorter to me; I could be wrong here. I wonder if this ride comes with the homegrown Mahindra’s range of engines or offers something new. The rear windshield looks small and may offer a restricted view. The rear tail-lamp and the third brake light were all LED. The antenna is placed on the roof’s rear. Both the antenna and the rear viper looked meatier. I am not sure if the vehicle was pre-produced or just an imported specimen. Anyway, this is one good mini SUV and it has all the qualities of a best-seller. Check out the best selling mini SUVs of India here.
Thanks for reading.