If the reports are to be believed, India’s biggest utility vehicle manufacturer i.e. Mahindra & Mahindra, is working on a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) to pitch against the Ford EcoSport. Codenamed S102, the compact SUV is expected to be one of the first products to come out of Mahindra-Ssangyong's joint platform project. The S102 is based on Ssangyong's X100, and Mahindra intends to commence its production by the first half of 2015, but won’t be seen making its way to the market before the end of 2015 or early 2016.
The fact that Mahindra-Ssangyong is working on a compact 1 litre turbocharged petrol engine with variable valve timing and direct injection, which is similar to Ford's Ecoboost engine, comes across as quite interesting. From what is known, it is safe to say that the engine’s power output can match that of a much bigger vehicle, and yet deliver better fuel efficiency. Confirming the development, Pawan Goenka, ED and president of M&M's automotive & farm equipment said, “We are jointly developing engine family comprising of 6 different engines, but the big one is the new product based on X100 platform. I think people, begin to see the value of it and that will only grow.”
Goenka also mentioned that both the companies are still in the process of making a decision about the Ecoboost competing engine and if go ahead is given, its development will happen out of India, partly in South Korea and that it will be ready in 3 years.
Source- ET
