For the pan-India bookings of the XUV 500 Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) received a tremendous response as more than 7200 units were booked in a span of merely 2 days since bookings started. The company began the first all-India bookings for its Cheetah-inspired flagship model on June 08, 2012. At present, the vehicle is available at over 100 company outlets across the country, including the cities where the leading SUV maker of India has already launched it. Seeing the overwhelming demand for the car, the company raised its production capacity to 4000 units in May 2012, which was revised to 5000 units in the following month.
Talking about the resounding success of the XUV 500 in the third round of bookings, Chief Executive, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Pravin Shah, commented, “We would like to take this opportunity to offer our heartfelt thanks to our customers for the confidence they have shown in us. This overwhelming response in today’s challenging market environment is a testimony to the popularity of the XUV 500.”
Mahindra XUV 500 has received a warm welcome from all quarters of the Indian auto industry and has garnered as many as 22 awards since its launch in September 2011. The accolades won by the high selling model include the coveted 'Car of the Year', 'SUV of the Year' and 'Viewers Choice Car of the Year' awards at the ET-Zigwheels Awards 2011. It was also the recipient of 'SUV of the Year', 'Readers Choice Award' and 'Best Value for the Money Car' at the Top Gear Magazine Awards 2011. CNBC and Overdrive magazine christened it the ‘SUV of the Year’ and ‘Viewers Choice Car of the Year’ at the CNBC TV18–Overdrive Awards 2012. The car also won the ‘SUV of the Year’ at the NDTV Car & Bike Awards 2012 and Business Standard Motoring 2012 Awards’. At Bloomberg UTV Autocar India Awards, it was crowned the ‘SUV of the Year’, ‘Best Value for Money Car of the Year’ and ‘Viewers Choice SUV of the Year'.
Top Gear Malayalam gave it the ‘SUV of the Year Award 2011-2012’, while it won the prestigious ‘SUV of the Year’ award at Car India Awards 2012. Auto Bild India gave the car Golden Steering Wheel Awards 2012 under two categories, namely ‘SUV/UV 2011 Award’ and ‘Viewer's Choice Award’. It won the latter as the viewers of TV channels like Headlines Today and Aaj Tak voted in its favour. Mahindra XUV 500 has won the ‘Car of the Year / SUV of the Year’ given by renowned bloggers like TeamBHP, Vicky.in, Motor Vikatan, Auto Junction and MotorBeam. This car has been ranked as the most reputed auto brand Bluebytes' Reputation Benchmark Study.
Not just sales, XUV 500 has done well on the field too, as it secured wins in the extreme categories of prestigious rallies like Desert Storm, Desert Dash and Dakshin Dare. With the triumph at the Dakshin Dare, it became the first-ever diesel powered SUV to score a win in the extreme category of an Indian rally, thus cementing its position in the annals of the country's motorsport history.
