Ford EcoSport Rival Mahindra S101 Compact SUV Spied Testing Again

Ford EcoSport rival Mahindra S101 is seemed to be gearing up for an aggressive launch in the country as the SUV was caught testing again in India.

A test mule version of Mahindra S101 with production body parts such as headlamps, bumpers and tailgates have been spied testing in Chennai again and this time the images are taken by a Quartermile reader, Jithesh Jagadeeshan. The vehicle had made online appearances earlier too, but this is the first time the spied images are giving a clear view of the upcoming Mahindra S101.

The upcoming compact SUV of Mahindra is likely to be monikered Mahindra XUV300 and would be positioned below the company's XUV 500. The vehicle will be built on a new monocoque platform and is likely to carry the newly developed Mahindra petrol engine. A Motoroids report suggested that the Mahindra SUV would accommodate features like auto climate control, steering mounted buttons for infotainment system along with safety features like ABS, EBD, 4 airbags and ESP.

As of now, there is no information about the launch of the EcoSport rival in the country; however reports indicate that the SUV would be a sub-4 meter vehicle. This would give the benefit of tax redemption to the Mahindra S101. The vehicle is speculated to reach the market by 2015.

The company is also rumoured to launch an automatic gearbox variant of its iconic sports utility vehicle XUV500 and Scorpio facelift in India. Unveiled in September 2011 across five Indian cities, the cheetah-inspired XUV500 drew massive attention due to its stylish frame and state-of-the-art technologies, which include GPS navigation system, automatic climate controls, voice commands and a sophisticated infotainment system, complete with 6-inch LCD touchscreen, DVD player, Bluesense technology, iPod connectivity, along with six speakers.