Mahindra KUV100 CNG spotted testing

Mahindra's least expensive offering in India, the KUV100, didn't get the most ideal of starts. Launched in January 2016, the KUV100 has failed to capture the imagination of customers in the country. This was after Mahindra announced that in just a month's time from its launch, the KUV100 had bagged 21,000 bookings. It seems, though, that the automaker is pulling out all stops for the Rs 4-7 lakh market as a CNG variant of the KUV100 was recently spotted testing.

The CNG (compressed natural gas) kit will come mated to the 1.2-litre G80, mFalcon petrol engine which is tuned to churn out 83PS of power and 115Nm of torque. The engine is coupled to a five-speed manual transmission and the power is transmitted to the front wheels only. We expect Mahindra to launch the CNG variant in the first half of 2017 to gain popularity in semi-urban areas in India.

The KUV100 is currently on offer with 24 variants - with 12 variants apiece for the petrol and diesel engines. Once the CNG kit is available, the variant list likely to go up. The petrol as well as the diesel engines have a cubic capacity of 1.2 litres. The turbocharged mFalcon D75 engine pumps out 78PS of power and 190Nm of torque. Transmission duties are taken care of by a five-speed manual gearbox.

The price of variants with the petrol engine start at Rs 4.58 lakh for the base K2 trim and goes up to Rs 6.20 lakh for the top-spec K8, six-seater one. The price range for the diesel-powered KUV100 is between Rs 5.50 and 7.11 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom, Delhi). With the addition of a CNG kit, expect an inflated price-tag by approximately Rs 50,000 when compared to the same-spec, petrol only variant.

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