Mahindra To Rework on Ground Clearance of Its SUVs

[visran]

The 2013 Union Budget had a nasty surprise in store for SUV makers in India when the new duty structure mandated that cars with engines bigger than 1.5 liters in capacity, length greater than 4 meters and with a ground clearance higher than 170mm stand to be classified as SUVs. Such cars also face a higher excise duty and this increase in excise duty has meant that SUVs and MUVs such as the Mahindra Bolero and the Tata Sumo, predominantly used in the taxi sector and for rural transport have become more pricier. This reason given by the Indian government for this excise duty hike is that SUVs/MUVs occupy more space on the road and hence cause more congestion. So, they need to be taxed higher, at 30%.

While the congestion bit does have some basis to it as SUVs/MUVs come with a larger footprint than say a compact car/hatchback, the whole idea of hiking excise duty on SUVs/MUVs just based on engine capacity, length and ground clearance might not actually lead to solving the problem of congestion. Far from it, there are much larger luxury cars that occupy a larger footprint than the SUVs/MUVs of this world which have not come under the new ambit of classifying SUVs just because they have a ground clearance measuring under 170mm. So, the new classification rules for SUVs smacks of a haziness that burdens the poor while letting the rich get away.

Mahindra, known primarily for its range of utility vehicles such as the Bolero, Scorpio and the XUV500, could work around government regulations by reducing the ground clearance of its SUVs to just under 170mm. Once that happens, the utility vehicles in Mahindra’s range might no longer be classified under the higher excise duty bracket. This circumvention means that the Indian government’s whole exercise of coming up with new classification rules for SUVs will fall flat on its head. The flawed classification approach for SUVs might have finally met its match. This information is courtesy the Facebook page of YoungTurks, which carried a briefing quoting Dr Pawan Goenka, Head-Automotive of Mahindra stating that,

“Will re-define models to meet 170mm ground clearance”.

Mahindra plans to rework ground clearance of SUVs to workaround the excise duty hike - Indian Cars Bikes : Indian Cars Bikes

 

[Superbad]

this is another LOLwa for the indian government.

one of their many knee-jerk reactions and law enactments.

had seen tweets asking why and bmw 7 series enjoys lower excise than a bolero.

guess they got it to work.

the plus side i can see is now their vehicles can have better handling characteristics.

 

[visran]

MAHINDRA BOLERO, SCORPIO AND XUV500 TO GET STONE GUARD TO QUALIFY FOR LOWER EXCISE DUTY

To classify cars under the lower excise duty bracket, car makers have the option of reducing ground clearance, or reducing engine displacement or decreasing the length of their cars. The easiest way of making cars/SUVs fall under the lower excise duty bracket is to reduce ground clearance of the said car/SUV. This is the approach Mahindra &Mahindra has taken and to achieve a lower ground clearance, the car maker has fit a “stone guard” to its utility range of vehicles such as the Bolero, Scorpio and the XUV500.

The stone guard is a plate that sits under the body of the SUV and prevents stones from damaging the underbody of the SUV. The addition of the stone guard reduces the ground clearance of the Mahindra range of SUVs, thus allowing them to duck under the 170mm mark. Team ICB’s sources state that Mahindra has already got these modifications approved by ARAI, the body that approves all changes to motor vehicles sold in India. The change in ground clearance is expected to result in Mahindra’s range of UVs such as the Bolero, Scorpio and XUV500 getting cheaper by a few ten thousands as they will not be classified as SUVs anymore due to their lower ground clearances of under 170mm.

With Mahindra taking the lead in reducing ground clearance of its utility vehicles, expect other UV makers such as Tata Motors and Toyota to jump onto the ground clearance reduction bandwagon. All said and done, while the car makers have come up with a unique method to bypass the increased excise duty, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Indian government responds by barring such modifications that circumvent the very purpose of the excise duty hike on SUVs.

ICB Exclusive: Mahindra Bolero, Scorpio and XUV500 to get stone guard to qualify for lower excise duty - Indian Cars Bikes : Indian Cars Bikes

 

[Iron Rock]

Reminds me of Einstein quote :-
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe" (For the Rule makers!)

I thought they will simply tie a string with a metal "limbu" at front and measure gc there, seems like they come up with a term "stone guard"

Funny country we live in!

P.S a new updated better designed "Limbu" will be out in 2 months - check at your dealerships!

 

[TheG2]

Logic behind removing sun films and the exercise duty rise are the stupidest thing to happen in the last few months.

 

[visran]

Mahindra XUV500′s ground clearance lowered; Now costs INR 33,000 less

The Mahindra XUV500 has just got its ground clearance lowered and thus gets a price cut as well. The XUV500 which had a 200mm ground clearance, will now have a 160mm ground clearance

Mahindra XUV500 ground clearance reduced costs Rs 33000 less

 

[GM88]

Wow !! Has Mahindra's management gone insane? 160mm ground clearance for this huge SUV and that too just to lower the price by 27-30k. Even my low slung hatch Polo has better ground clearance now than the XUV. This will surely backfire IMO and sales will drop further as Ground clearance is the USP for all these SUV's. Heck even the new Ecosport has 200mm of Ground clearance and that is the major factor as to why people are going for it. Seriously, what was Mahindra's management thinking. Now it has to be seen, what part have they lowered down and if that stone guard will be of any real help and how many hits can it really take on it before damaging the underlying structures. The whole SUV purpose is being taken for a ride with this move.

 

[chayan]

Wow !! Has Mahindra's management gone insane? 160mm ground clearance for this huge SUV and that too just to lower the price by 27-30k. Even my low slung hatch Polo has better ground clearance now than the XUV. This will surely backfire IMO and sales will drop further as Ground clearance is the USP for all these SUV's. Heck even the new Ecosport has 200mm of Ground clearance and that is the major factor as to why people are going for it. Seriously, what was Mahindra's management thinking. Now it has to be seen, what part have they lowered down and if that stone guard will be of any real help and how many hits can it really take on it before damaging the underlying structures. The whole SUV purpose is being taken for a ride with this move.

No, in India this makes perfect sense. And I predict that sales will increase. This is the first time Indian consumer would get more (additional stone guard) and pay less (lower price by 33K in case of XUV500) than the earlier model.
The Indian buyers will lap it up. Buy the car, take it to ASS.. take off the stone guard, sell the stone guard to dealer.. make more profit. Win Win for everyone.

 

[TheG2]

If I understand this correctly, what they have done is reduce the GC by little and add an additional stone guard. With this addition, the GC becomes 160mm. Since the GC is calculated including this stone guard.
Remove the Stone guard and get the same old vehicle with little less ground clearance but at cheaper rate. This is a good move by M&M in my opinion.

 

[Akash]

Come on Govt. wake up. The roads are in pathetic condition, and if the people are ready to spend almost a million for a better GC vehicles, you are trying your best to make those vehicles costlier!
Kudos to M&M for this move. I strongly believe they did the right thing by not spending a lot over the alteration and rather making a wise use of the loop hole of the policy.

 

[raj_5004]

Wow !! Has Mahindra's management gone insane? 160mm ground clearance for this huge SUV and that too just to lower the price by 27-30k. Even my low slung hatch Polo has better ground clearance now than the XUV. This will surely backfire IMO and sales will drop further as Ground clearance is the USP for all these SUV's. Heck even the new Ecosport has 200mm of Ground clearance and that is the major factor as to why people are going for it. Seriously, what was Mahindra's management thinking. Now it has to be seen, what part have they lowered down and if that stone guard will be of any real help and how many hits can it really take on it before damaging the underlying structures. The whole SUV purpose is being taken for a ride with this move.

No, in India this makes perfect sense. And I predict that sales will increase. This is the first time Indian consumer would get more (additional stone guard) and pay less (lower price by 33K in case of XUV500) than the earlier model.
The Indian buyers will lap it up. Buy the car, take it to ASS.. take off the stone guard, sell the stone guard to dealer.. make more profit. Win Win for everyone.

If I understand this correctly, what they have done is reduce the GC by little and add an additional stone guard. With this addition, the GC becomes 160mm. Since the GC is calculated including this stone guard.
Remove the Stone guard and get the same old vehicle with little less ground clearance but at cheaper rate. This is a good move by M&M in my opinion.

Relax guys, I think the GC has not really been affected the way its described. M&M is not foolish to lower the springs of it's SUV by a whopping 40mm. I think if they do that, they may even have to reduce the alloys from 17" to 16" or maybe even 15"!

According to the "Indian" way of defining things, GC is measured from the lowest metal part of the body. It can be the suspension struts, the exhaust or even a metal foot rest.

In case of XUV, from what I have read, I presume all Mahindra has done is that they have replaced the plastic engine protection cover with a metal cover so that it becomes the lowest metal part of the body. Even before, it was at the same height... but since it was plastic, it was never really considered for GC. Now, since it is metal, it becomes the lowest part.

Now, since this part lies on the front axle (between the front two wheels), it will never really scrape the ground as it moves vertically with the wheels.

So, the GC is effectively still 200 mm. Think practically guys, it is not easy not is it feasible to shave off 40mm from an SUV, a lot of engineering has to go into it. So, I do think it is a smart move.

Yes, I do believe that the price cut of Rs. 33000 does not really justify all this exercise. 33k hardly matters to anyone who is putting in 16 Lacs. But M&M has simply passed of the 3% excise duty benefit to customers...

 

[GM88]

Relax guys, I think the GC has not really been affected the way its described. M&M is not foolish to lower the springs of it's SUV by a whopping 40mm. I think if they do that, they may even have to reduce the alloys from 17" to 16" or maybe even 15"!

According to the "Indian" way of defining things, GC is measured from the lowest metal part of the body. It can be the suspension struts, the exhaust or even a metal foot rest.

In case of XUV, from what I have read, I presume all Mahindra has done is that they have replaced the plastic engine protection cover with a metal cover so that it becomes the lowest metal part of the body. Even before, it was at the same height... but since it was plastic, it was never really considered for GC. Now, since it is metal, it becomes the lowest part.

Now, since this part lies on the front axle (between the front two wheels), it will never really scrape the ground as it moves vertically with the wheels.

So, the GC is effectively still 200 mm. Think practically guys, it is not easy not is it feasible to shave off 40mm from an SUV, a lot of engineering has to go into it. So, I do think it is a smart move.

Yes, I do believe that the price cut of Rs. 33000 does not really justify all this exercise. 33k hardly matters to anyone who is putting in 16 Lacs. But M&M has simply passed of the 3% excise duty benefit to customers...

Well if that's the case, I don't see any real harm. But to a layman, on the spec sheets the ground clearance will be shown as 160mm and that of Duster and Ecosport will be 205mm & 200mm respectively in comparison. Heck the far easily scraped cars like Figo and Polo on paper have 168mm Ground clearance. So somebody upgrading from a Polo or Figo to an XUV will be in for a real surprise seeing the figure on the XUV spec sheet. I don't know if this 30k drop in price is really justifiable. As such Mahindra was giving 30-35k discounts on the XUV already. I guess a little unplanned, too optimistic or far fetched decision by the Mahindra Management. So any idea if this new additional stone guard is removable?

 

[raj_5004]

Well if that's the case, I don't see any real harm. But to a layman, on the spec sheets the ground clearance will be shown as 160mm and that of Duster and Ecosport will be 205mm & 200mm respectively in comparison. Heck the far easily scraped cars like Figo and Polo on paper have 168mm Ground clearance. So somebody upgrading from a Polo or Figo to an XUV will be in for a real surprise seeing the figure on the XUV spec sheet. I don't know if this 30k drop in price is really justifiable. As such Mahindra was giving 30-35k discounts on the XUV already. I guess a little unplanned, too optimistic or far fetched decision by the Mahindra Management. So any idea if this new additional stone guard is removable?

True. That is what the marketing team at M&M must worry about.

The older guard was removable, so this one should be removable as well. Normally, in all cars, these guards are removable to allow the technicians at the A.S.S. to access the engine compartment from below.

 

[TheG2]

In case of XUV, from what I have read, I presume all Mahindra has done is that they have replaced the plastic engine protection cover with a metal cover so that it becomes the lowest metal part of the body. Even before, it was at the same height... but since it was plastic, it was never really considered for GC. Now, since it is metal, it becomes the lowest part.

So, the GC is effectively still 200 mm. Think practically guys, it is not easy not is it feasible to shave off 40mm from an SUV, a lot of engineering has to go into it. So, I do think it is a smart move.

Raj, thats exactly what I was trying to say. But they have indeed reduced the GC fractionally without impacting the wheel base and stuff. But that is just fractional and rest has been taken care by the stone guard .

Also they are coming up with W4 variant very soon, mostly in diwali which will have less features and less cost

 

[raj_5004]

Raj, thats exactly what I was trying to say. But they have indeed reduced the GC fractionally without impacting the wheel base and stuff. But that is just fractional and rest has been taken care by the stone guard .

Yes, that fraction would be hardly a noticeable difference, definitely not 40mm!