Mahindra Quanto (NuvoSport) | A Mini-Xylo That No One Wanted

Mahindra and Mahindra, a carmaker known for its powerful SUVs such as Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo and XUV300. But then there are some that were not that famous. Today, we are talking about the axed version of the Xylo, the Mahindra Quanto. It was Mahindra’s entry to the sub-4 metre compact SUV segment which was still in the initial stages of success in India.

2012 – The Compact/Mini SUV is launched

A 5-door five to seven-seater mini SUV was launched in India back in 2012. It was aimed at the urban customers who wanted to feel the SUV experience and yet be able to manoeuvre through the city. Quanto was a perfect alternative to the hatchbacks at that time. Let’s have a look at the engine specifications of the Quanto.

The 1.5-litre engine and the dimensions lower than the 4,000mm mark made Quanto eligible for the tax relaxations. This helped in keeping the price in check. Quanto came in a total of 4 variants. Have a look at the variant-wise price of the Quanto.

Let’s have a look at some points related to the performance, design elements and drive quality of the mini SUV:

• Talking about the engine, due to the massive 1,500kgs of weight laden on the monocoque chassis, the mill felt a little less-powered. Although it was not aimed to do so either.
• The tall stance of the mini SUV makes sure that even the tall people have no problem in seating inside the compact car.
• This tall stance also added to the rolling of the body which can be easily felt while cornering.
• Even though the engine is a 3-cylinder one, the refinement of the engine can be felt easily. There are very fewer vibrations as compared to other 3-cylinder powered vehicles.

• The interiors are spacious and the light-tone beige-coloured dash is also a soothing addition to it. The steering gets no mounted controls and the top variant C8 gets music system.
• It also has features like rear parking assist and dual airbags, though limited to the top variant.

Even these many USPs were not enough to attract the customers towards the Mahindra Quanto. It was discontinued in 2016 due to low sales. Although it could have been a hit in the market, it was just not the right time to launch the car. And by the sales chart, we can see that Mahindra has never been able to tap in the small segment with a bang. But this was not the end of mini SUV. Mahindra launched a facelift to the Quanto, Mahindra Nuvosport.

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2016 – Mahindra Nuvosport is launched

Nuvosport was pretty different from the former in terms of the exterior as well as the engine too. Here is what changed:

• The front of the car is completely different. It now has a large bumper that has been split into two sections adding to the height of the bonnet.
• It had a new metal skidplate that meshed into the lower honeycomb grille.
• At the bonnet, there was a new scoop in the bonnet to feed air into the new top-mounted intercooler.
• Talking about the size, the Nuvosport had the same proportions as that of the Mahindra Quanto.
• The new Mahindra mini SUV had 16-inch alloy wheels as compared to the 15-inches at the Quanto.
• At the rear, Nuvosport was given a new wheel cover for the rear-mounted spare wheel.

• Coming to the interior, there was a new steering wheel with steering-mounted controls.
• At the centre console, you would have got a new touchscreen entertainment system.
• The seats now had leather upholstery. The plastics at the panels though were a bit outdated.
• Talking about the performance, the engine was the same 1.5-litre unit but refined for the Nuvosport. It had two modes, Power and Eco mode. The engine produced 240Nm in power mode while 180Nm in eco.

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But the facelift was also not able to make any mark too. Or should I say, it was worse than the Quanto in terms of sales? Yes, indeed it was. Many of you may not even know about the Mahindra Nuvosport. The company rolled out the last unit in 2018. An end to the Quanto nameplate.

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