Mahindra is planning to introduce petrol variants of the XUV500 and Scorpio later this year. The move is probably to negate the pressure from the NGT (National Green Tribunal), which has banned large capacity diesel cars in Delhi and Kerala and further hopes to implement similar rules in other metro cities.
In an interview recently, to another publication, Pawan Goenka, executive director Mahindra & Mahindra said, “Despite being a diesel player, we had a feeling that a diesel-only approach may not be good enough. Now, we will launch the Scorpio and XUV500 in petrol this year and in future all vehicles will have both options.”
All the bigger Mahindra SUVs have only diesel engines at the moment and the petrol engine option will cover the carmaker against further restrictions on the large capacity diesel engines, which is currently proposed by NGT. Mahindra may introduce a range of petrol engines in associate with Ssangyong and the first one will ideally be a 2.2-litre unit for the XUV500 and Scorpio. The smaller capacity units will include one with a displacement of around 1.6-litres and should debut in the second half next year.
