Mahindra Xylo 2012 E9-BS 4 - Design Review
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Design Review of Mahindra Xylo 2012 E9-BS 4
Last Updated at 11:26 am, May 20, 2013
Rating :We drive the Mahindra Xylo E9 – which now boasts of cosmetic and mechanical upgrades over the older model | Photo and videography: Eshan Shetty
The Mahindra Xylo debuted back in 2008-9 and had the canvas of becoming a serious opponent for the market leader, the Toyota Innova. After all, giving an established contender from the big-T a run for its money is a daunting task even for the biggest of carmakers – so an Indian company trying to beat the mammoth Qualis’ rightful successor, was going to be a big ask. But Mahindra pulled off a formidable job and the Xylo was a big success in the Innova-dominated market.
Design
But that said I was never an admirer of the Xylo. To begin with, the first Xylo I ever saw, without the camouflage cladding, was painted in that hideous shade of green. But what put me off was that out of the four people (including me) who took the car out for a road test, three threw up due to motion sickness; while I felt groggy for the better part of the journey in spite of being in the driver’s seat throughout. So coming back to the present, when I heard about the Xylo’s second coming, I was more interested to known if anything has changed with the dynamics of the MUV than how it looked. But more on that later. For now, let us begin with the exterior design.
The new Mahindra Xylo was criticised by many for its blobby design especially when Mahindra was going for sharper faces with the likes of the Scorpio facelift, the Thar and even the recently launched and ridiculously successful XUV500. But the new Xylo addresses this concern. So what you now get is a new face that replaces the arced grille with a completely trapezoidal one. It still has a vertically-slotted design unlike the Genio. But the Mahindra emblem, which was integrated within the grille earlier, now moves away into the flat, clamshell bonnet. In turn, the grille has gotten rid of the chrome plated bunny-teeth that the earlier model had and the plastics get a gloss-black treatment unlike the body-coloured one that you got on the earlier model. Chrome still exists, though this time it is on the lower lip of the grille.
The chrome lining also extends into the headlights and separates the turn blinkers from the rest of the headlight elements. In turn, this lining also makes the headlights look more aggressive and angular in spite of retaining the same exterior shape. The headlamp surrounds are now finished in black and it goes well with the rest of the black treatment on the front end.
That brings us to the bumper. Like the grille and the headlamp surrounds, the air-dams and fog lamp surrounds also get a black colour treatment. The fog-lamps have grown slightly taller than the ones on the earlier model. The front bumper also gets plastic extensions on either ends, in matte black, to add more muscle to the front end.
On the side, the new Xylo continues with its angular design theme. Frankly, the silhouette of the Xylo is largely similar to its earlier avatar, but small tweaks make the MUV look boxier than bulbous. To being with, the straight lines are highlighted by the new rub rails and the body graphics. Like the earlier Xylo’s ‘Celebration’ edition, the new Xylo gets a gloss back treatment on the B and C pillars, making the greenhouse look seamless. The roof now dons shorter and flatter roof rails which make the roofline look, eh, flat.
At the back, the changes aren’t many. The taillight now gets a clear lens treatment for the turn blinkers and there is a new variant badging, the ‘E9’, which you could see in plenty on the road, given its tempting features list. More on that in the User Experience Review of the new Xylo.
First Published on 01:12 pm, February 09, 2012
- Indicator lights on the ORVM
- 2nd row seats on rails
- Climate control
Also if the height would have been reduced by around couple of inches, the overal design would be more aligned and the body roll would have been reduced
