According to various media reports, the 6-seat version of the Thar had been reintroduced as various dealers had updated their pricelists with the said version.
Mahindra Thar AX six-seater: Has it been reintroduced?
However, the company has clarified to us, that since its discontinuation in November last year, the car has not been reintroduced.
The news of the relaunch of the six-seater assumes significance since this version of the popular Thar was discontinued in order to retain its 4-star Global NCAP crash rating. If Mahindra does decide to reintroduce the six-seater, it risks the chance of losing this precious assessment.
Global NCAP picks the variant that will face the “biggest challenge in the crash test” which would have been the side facing seat version, had it been launched. Speaking to Autocar India in December last year, Alejandro Furas, secretary general of Global NCAP, said a reintroduction would nullify the rating and Mahindra would be prevented from using it in any form of communication. Furthermore, he elaborated, “beyond cancelling the rating, ideally we would buy a Thar with the side facing seats and then test it again and give a new rating”.
Mahindra Thar AX six-seater: Will it be reintroduced?
Thus its highly unlikely Mahindra would throw away the much-coveted star rating and moreover introduce another version when it is still struggling to fulfil a huge backorder. Our sources in the company state that they are far too busy with many orders of the existing car and most likely won’t be able to add a new variant for at least a year.
Curiously though, Mahindra does acknowledge that it has updated the prices for the 6-seater as a matter of procedure but the car is most certainly not available for sale. Thus, it does not rule out a return of the 6-seater, but as things stand it’s not likely to happen very soon.
Mahindra upcoming SUV launches: 2021 and beyond
The company will launch the Bolero Neo this week and a global debut of the new XUV700 is also expected this month followed by a price announcement. An all-new Scorpio will see a market launch early next year.