Mahindra Bolero
Mahindra BoleroPR handout

With the arrival of new players such as the Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Creta in the UV segment, Mahindra's workhorse, the Bolero, saw a decline in sales. The average monthly sales of 8,000 units dropped to about 4,000 units in the past couple of months for the Bolero, which is the best selling UV for the past 11 consecutive years. Mahindra is quick to respond and the new Bolero is set to hit showrooms soon.

"The resurrection of the Bolero brand is happening soon enough before the monsoon season gets out. Who knows the customer better than a homegrown company like ours?" the Hindu BusinessLine quoted Pravin Shah, CEO of M&M automotive segment, as saying.

The Bolero facelift is expected to feature a reworked front and rear profile with tweaked bumpers. The updates are expected to be pure cosmetic on exterior and interior. The new Bolero will be powered by the same 2.5-litre engine.

The interesting bit is that Mahindra might also launch the mini version of the Bolero. The Bolero mini will be under four metre length that will avail excise duty cut by the government. The model has been caught testing recently under camouflage. The Bolero's compact SUV version will have the same wheelbase as of the regular version, while the front and rear overhangs will be reduced. The dashboard will remain the same as in the Bolero. Despite being shortened to under four-metre, the Bolero compact SUV variant still be a seven-seater. The last row is expected to get jump seats similar to the NuvoSport and the TUV300.

The new SUV will be powered by the three-cylinder, 1.5-litre mHawk100 diesel engine that develops 100bhp and 240Nm. The Bolero mini will be Mahindra's fourth offering in the compact SUV segment, others being the TUV300, KUV100 and the NuvoSport.