There has been a lot of action in the Indian car space from Mahindra in recent times. First came the Marazzo MPV, a very impressive product. That was followed by the Alturas G4, which is the new gen Ssangyong Rexton with the Mahindra moniker and the flagship of the model line up. The car maker now brings in their latest offering to battle it out in the fierce compact SUV space. Say hello to the Mahindra XUV300. The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza is the king of this segment, the Tata Nexon is also making waves and the Ford Ecosport just got a refresh last year. Can the XUV300 jump in and spoil the party for its rivals? We headed to sunny Goa to drive it and find the answer.

Mahindra XUV300 Exterior

The Mahindra XUV300 is based on the X100 platform that also underpins the Ssangyong Tivoli SUV globally. While the length of the Tivoli is more than 4 metres, the XUV300 stands just shy of that mark at 3995 mm for the tax benefits in India. Overall width is 1821 mm with height at 1627 mm. The XUV300 has a wheelbase of 2600 mm and a track 0f 1550 mm (front) which are both best in class. Just like its elder sibling the XUV500, Mahindra says that the styling of the XUV300 is also cheetah inspired.  Up front, the XUV300 gets a slim front grille with chrome studs. The headlamps are projector units and the daytime running LED lamps have a unique design that extend from the top of the headlamps into the front bumper. They are quite a sight in dark for sure. The front bumper features a large central air dam with chrome trims.  The fog lamps have a sculpted design are integrated into the bumper. In a segment first, there are front parking sensors too. The XUV300 will be offered in four trims: W4, W6, W8 and W8 (O). We drove the range topping variant at the drive. The ORVMs get LED turn indicators and are heated, again a segment first. The muscular wheel arches, inspired from the haunches of the cheetah house 17-inch diamond cut alloy wheels and the design is quite striking (Base variants get 16 inch steel rims). There is body cladding on the wheel arches and along the sides while the blacked D pillar gives a floating roof effect. Our test car came with a white contrast roof and you have roof rails mounted on top as well. At the rear, you get LED tail lamps but the windshield feels rather small. It gets a stubby rear wiper. The rear view camera is tucked away under the logo on the tail gate. The rear bumper gets parking sensors, fog lamps and a faux skid plate as well. Other features include auto headlamps and rain sensing wipers. Overall the XUV300 looks larger in the flesh than in the pictures and the rear three quarter view gives it a pretty beefy stance.

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