It’s the end of the road for the Mahindra Thar in its current form, like we told you a few months ago. That’s funny, because the Thar is an off-road vehicle, and it will be back in a bigger, more modern avatar.
To get the last 700 units of the Mahindra Thar out of the stockyard, Mahindra is offering these as limited edition vehicles, with Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra’s signature affixed on a plaque on it. It has been priced at Rs 9.99 lakh ex-showroom.
Besides the signature badging, these last 700 units of the Thar will also come with a unique aquamarine colour besides black. Mahindra is throwing in 16-inch alloy wheels (from the previous generation Scorpio), a fully matte-black grille, decals, silver finished bumper and leatherite upholstery with Thar branding.
The big addition in terms of safety to this limited-edition Thar is an anti-lock braking system (ABS), which is now mandated by law.
However, Mahindra has not been able to fit a driver’s airbag into the existing Thar and hence the move to quickly dispose off the last 700 units before that rule kicks in on 1 July 2019. The Thar continues to be powered by a 2.5 litre diesel engine putting out 105 bhp of power with a five-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel drive.
The vehicle will not be able to meet upcoming crash tests as well, which start from 1 October 2019. For that, Mahindra has an all-new Thar in the works. It has been spotted testing all around the country (I’ve seen it too, but couldn’t click pictures fast enough).
The next-generation Thar will be based on a heavily revised new Mahindra Scorpio platform. There’s also an all-new Scorpio being readied for launch later this year. It’s likely that the all-new Thar may come in around the festive season or possibly at the New Delhi Auto Expo in February 2020.
The new Thar is expected to meet Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) crash test norms. It will have dual airbags, ABS, parking sensors, speed warnings and seat-belt warnings are mandated by law. The body shell and bumper will undergo changes to meet pedestrian safety norms too, making it a much safer vehicle.
Since BS-VI emission norms will come into effect in April 2020, the new Thar is expected to get updated diesel as well as petrol engines too.
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