We recently told you that the 2020 next-gen Mahindra Thar is all set to launch during the festive season in October in the Indian market. Now, it has been learnt that the off-roader will also come with an automatic gearbox variant. The new Thar has already been spotted several times during its test runs and was supposed to launch as early May 2020 but it was postponed due to the nationwide lockdown, pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Mahindra Thar would face competition from Force Gurkha and the upcoming Maruti Suzuki Jimny in India.
According to Rajesh Jejurikar, Additional Director & Executive Director, Mahindra (Auto & Farm), "“An important initiative, and we believe this is a flagship initiative is the launch of the new Thar. The new Thar brings back the core. We believe it will create a new category which brings in the core product of Mahindra, which comes in variety - a wide variety, wide level of refinement, aggregates, automatic, all the works, which will create a new segment." Though, the automatic version was already spotted camouflaged as test mule but now with Rajesh's statement, it has been confirmed to feature an auto gearbox besides the 6-speed manual transmission and an optional all-wheel-drive system.
Internally codenamed as Mahindra Z101, the new Thar would come loaded with a plethora of never-seen-before features in the form of LED headlamps with daytime running lights (DRLs), LED tail-lamp cluster, automatic climate control, front-facing second row seats, semi-digital multi-information display, cruise control, and a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Mechanically, it is expected to be offered in both petrol and diesel fuel trims with a 138bhp 2.0L turbocharged mHawk engine and a 157bhp 1.5L turbocharged mStallion engine, respectively. The 6-speed torque converter automatic unit will be sourced from Aisin. The 2020 Mahindra Thar price would be on the higher side as compared to the ongoing model due to inclusion of new features, tech and BS6 engines.
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