Rajesh Jejurikar, Additional Manager & Executive Director, Mahindra (Auto & Farm), talked briefly last week about the next-gen Mahindra Thar (codename: Mahindra Z101). "The launch of the new Thar is an important initiative and we believe this is a flagship initiative," he said. "The new Thar 's having the center back," he said.
We believe it will create a new category that will put all the works into Mahindra's core product which comes in variety-a wide variety, wide level of sophistication, aggregates, automatic, which will create a new segment.
The 2020 Mahindra Thar automatic was already seen in spy shots, and the statement by Jejurikar now all but confirms the speculation about its launch. We believe it will feature an Aisin-based 6-speed torque converter transmission and will be available with both petrol and diesel engines.
The Mahindra Thar 2020 engines are expected to be a 2.0-liter mHawk turbocharged diesel unit with a maximum output of about 140 hp and a 1.5-liter mStallion turbocharged petrol unit with a maximum output of over 160 hp. A manual six-speed transmission should be standard. In the diesel engine version a part-time 4x4 system is likely to be an option.