Mahindra’s new sports utility vehicle (SUV), the XUV500, has made a big impression in South Africa already, with sales of 320 units since it was unveiled for the media on September 30 and subsequently for the public at the Johannesburg International Motor Show in early October.

“We are delighted with the sales figures and the strong interest in our new product,” said the CEO of Mahindra South Africa, Ashok Thakur. “Our first batch of the new model – 150 units - only arrived in the third week of December. January was thus the first full calendar month when we had adequate stock and we sold 106 units in what is traditionally a slow sales month after the festive season break.”

The Mahindra senior executive in SA said the response from early buyers had been very positive, with comments like: “Seven seats with all these features for less than R250 000 … it’s the value-for-money buy in SA …”, “The XUV500 has every feature under the sun as standard,” “it’s unbelievably good,” “fuel consumption is freakishly good,” “it’s a winner. At this price, nothing compares with it.”

Mahindra SA’s parent company – Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. -, which is the acknowledged leader in the domestic SUV market, is also enjoying very strong demand for its latest SUV, which is all-new from the ground up and aimed at both the Indian and international markets.  

This demand for the XUV500 has been mirrored by many positive reports in the motoring and business media in India, with many writers citing styling, fuel economy, a high level of standard equipment and excellent value for money,” as major positives.

Post-launch bookings for the XUV500 in its home market have had to be limited due to production constraints with the first 8 000 units (the initial four months’ production) being booked in less than 10 days. At this initial stage, the product had been launched in only five cities.

The second round of bookings opened on January 25 and was extended to 19 Indian cities. It received an overwhelming response with more than 25,000 booking applications being received. A draw  – overseen by Deloitte Touche Tomatsu India – will now be made to select customers as the bookings already exceed the availability of 7 200 units. The order books closed on February 3.

Speaking at the announcement of a draw to allocate vehicles, the Senior Vice President – Marketing of the Automotive Division of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Vivek Nayer, said” "We continue to be humbled by the overwhelming response to the XUV500 and the confidence shown in Mahindra & Mahindra as a company. We will ensure a fair and transparent allotment of the available vehicles to customers, using a strictly monitored draw system.”

The Mahindra XUV500 has already received 20 awards.

These include:

• Car of the Year, SUV of the Year and Viewers’ Choice Car of the Year” at the ET – Zigwheels’ 2011 awards
• SUV of the Year, Readers’ Choice Award and Best Value for Money Car at Top Gear magazine’s  2011 awards.
• SUV of the Year and Viewers’ Choice Car of the Year at CNBC TV18 – Overdrive’s 2012 awards.
• SUV of the Year at NDTV Car & Bike 2012 awards
• SUV of the Year, Best Value for Money Car of the Year and Viewers’ Choice Award at the Bloombergs UTV Autocar  India 2012 awards.  
• SUV of the Year and UV of the Year at Auto Bild India’s Golden Steering Wheel’s 2012 awards.
• Viewers Choice award where viewers of TV channels, Headlines Today and Aaj Tak, polled for their favourite set of “hot wheels”
• SUV of the Year at Car India’s 2012 awards.
• Car of the Year and SUV of the Year awards from acclaimed bloggers, TeamBHP, Vicky-in, Motor Vikatan, Auto Junction and Auto Beam.