Mahindra & Mahindra yesterday announced that its upcoming compact SUV, hitherto codenamed as Mahindra U301 or popularly referred by “mini Bolero”, will be hitting the Indian roads in mid-September under the name Mahindra TUV3OO(pronounced three, double-O). The company will continue to sell both models. “We will share the details of the product around the time of launch in mid-September”. “We see a space for the product in the global market as many players are exiting the SUV segment”, Goenka said.

The TUV300 is one among the nine new models, refreshes and variants (including small commercial vehicles) and passenger vehicles the Mumbai-based automaker plans to introduce in the current fiscal year.

The powerful SUV is supposed to compete with the likes of Fiat Avventura, Hyundai 120 Active and Toyota Etios Cross which are all priced below Rs. 10L. The company had launched a new SUV Quanto in 2012 but it failed to gain traction on the scale other SUVs from the company such as the XUV500 and Scorpio had. “The TUV300 will be a compact sub-four metre SUV”. However, it will not have a four-wheel drive. Mahindra’s executive director and president of automotive and farm equipment sector, Dr. Pawan Goenka, told reporters that the TUV300 will be a “true blue” SUV and not a crossover. It will come with the 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder mHawk diesel engine that produces a total power output of 100 BHP and will be mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The Mahindra TUV300 has been designed and developed in-house by the Mahindra design team. It will not replace the existing Bolero, and the TUV300 will be an all-new product from the homegrown automaker.

The vehicle will be manufactured at Mahindra’s manufacturing facility at Chakan in Maharashtra and is expected to be aimed at young rural buyers.