We simply loved this article by Kabelo Chabalala about the Mahindta XUV700 for sale - a new-age luxury SUV available in South Africa.
On two occasions, the Mahindra XUV700 almost gave me a heart attack.
The first instance involved parking in the underground parking at the Mall@Reds in Centurion for a quick supermarket dash. Upon my return, five car guards were surrounding the car, frantically looking for something. I was alarmed! And paranoid that someone had bumped the car.
The real reason was far more innocent.
About 10 metres from the car, I took out the car key to unlock it. This was to signal to them that I was approaching, but instead of them moving away from the car, at the sight of the pop-up door handles, they lost their cool and started screaming. They were in total awe. The top-of-the-range 2.0T AX7 L finished in its signature Electric Blue hue had them losing their minds. In unison, they all asked, “Which brand is this beautiful car? We circled the car trying to find the name with no luck. We also don’t recognise the logo”.
In the second incident, I had taken the car for a wash around Centurion. As I sat at a restaurant across the car wash, I watched a man, probably in his late 40s or early 50s, walking straight to the bay where they were vacuuming the car, to inquire about it.
He circled the car three times while I watched from a distance.
Luckily, I had told the ladies and gentlemen at the car wash where I would be, and one of them came to me to ask about the car and confirm the brand name.
It dawned on me that either the carmaker did not make enough noise about the new Mahindra SUV logo, or people are simply ignorant. Nevertheless, the new logo debuted on the XUV700, which explains why a lot of people did know that it is the new Mahindra logo, specifically for their Sport Utility Vehicle range.
This particular change was inspired by the brand’s belief that as a driver of one of their SUVs, you can go where you want, when you want, in complete style. And style was not in short supply when it came to the XUV700. The biggest talking point of this car for me is the price the XUV700 is for sale at, which is no more than R560,000 for the top-of-the-range variant, AX7 L, which I drove.
It comes in three offerings - the mid-specced AX7, which will make your pocket less rich at just over R500,000, and the AX5 base model, which is priced at around R480,000.
Anyone with a big family will be happy with this price tag. And it is not a lazy car.
When you get on the open road, with all three powered by a 2.0-Litre turbo petrol engine, the acceleration to the legal maximum speed of 120km/h makes you appreciate the 149kW and 380Nm it produces. It is a front-wheeler with a six-speed automatic gearbox.
With its big size, I found myself wishing for a moment it was an all-wheel drive, but I quickly remembered that this car was for comfort, proving it is indeed targeting family-oriented customers. I am willing to bet that, had I kept that car for one more week, there would have been even more drama surrounding it, from the church parking lot to our garage.
.
.
.
.
.
