A media report suggests that Mahindra and Mahindra may discontinue the 1.2-litre diesel engines which are on their small capacity passenger cars. The discontinuation of this diesel engine is speculated due to the high cost of upgrading these engines to the new BSVI emission norms. The new BSVI norms will be enforced from 1st of April 2020 in India and Mahindra and Mahindra may phase out their small capacity diesel engine by that time.
The Mahindra KUV100 NXT uses the 1.2-litre, mFalcon, D75, turbocharged, three-cylinder motor which produces 78 PS of power @ 3,750 RPM and 190 Nm of torque @ 1,750-2,250 RPM coupled to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The Mahindra KUV100 NXT diesel variant is available in this 1.2-litre diesel option and the product is likely to continue with the petrol powered engine which is a 1.2-litre, mFalcon, G80, MPFI with Dual Variable Valve Timing that produces 81.9 PS of power @ 5,500 RPM and 115 Nm of torque @ 3,500-3,600 RPM mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.
The Diesel powered variants are not very popular in this segment and adding to the cost of upgrading the engine with low sales volume is not a viable option for Mahindra. Moreover, the new petrol-powered XUV300 is gaining traction in sales and Mahindra, which is predominantly a diesel car manufacturer, may continue to upgrade the petrol engines as well as their larger capacity diesel engines which are used mainly on their SUV segment cars, to BSVI standards.
In addition to the 1.2-litre diesel engines, Mahindra also uses larger capacity 1.5-litre, 2.0-litre and 2.2-litre diesel engine in their passenger car lineup which are expected to be upgraded to BSVI emission norms soon.
The Mahindra KUV100 NXT is priced at INR 5.48 lakh to INR 7.93 lakh ex-showroom, Delhi for the diesel variant and INR 4.82 lakh to INR 6.99 lakh ex-showroom, Delhi for the petrol engine variants.