New Mahindra Bolero gets major styling tweaks and crash-test compliance in addition to its updated BS VI engine; set to be launched soon in three trim levels.
14 Mar 2020 | 12693 Views | By Akbar Merchant, Autocar India
Mahindra & Mahindra, like most other mainstream manufacturers, has been steadily upgrading its existing model line-up sold in India to BS VI emission standards. Last year, the company announced that the brand’s oldest models on sale, the Bolero, has received Bharat Stage VI certification for the Power Plus 1.5-litre diesel ...
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Mahindra & Mahindra, like most other mainstream manufacturers, has been steadily upgrading its existing model line-up sold in India to BS VI emission standards. Last year, the company announced that the brand’s oldest models on sale, the Bolero, has received Bharat Stage VI certification for the Power Plus 1.5-litre diesel model.
Along with this announcement, the company had also confirmed that the BS VI-compliant Bolero will go on sale in early 2020. The heavily updated BS VI-ready Bolero is set to go on sale in the coming weeks. The refreshed Bolero gets major styling tweaks up front in the form of an all-new front grille, bumper and slightly tweaked hood. The headlamps are new as well along with black inserts and chrome bits – overall, they make the Bolero look more premium than before.
While the changes to the Bolero’s exterior might look cosmetic, the key aspect of note here is that Mahindra’s oldest model in India now complies with the new crash-test norms that were introduced late last year.
BS VI 1.5-litre diesel power
The BS VI-compliant Bolero Power Plus is powered by a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder, diesel D75 engine that delivers 71hp and will also be seen in the refreshed TUV300 that will hit the showrooms soon.
Along with the aforementioned upgrades, Mahindra will also update variant nomenclature for the BS VI-spec Bolero. The new model is expected to be sold in three variants comprising the lower-spec B4, the mid-spec B6 and the top-spec B6(O).
Sources have told Autocar India that the BS VI Bolero will see a price hike of up to Rs 50,000 over its BS IV counterpart, depending on the variant in question.
Bolero bounces back in the sales charts
The Bolero was introduced in the Indian market way back in the year 2000 and has been the brand's strong seller for nearly two decades. From January 2009 to January 2020, the hardy Bolero has sold 967,904 units.
The Bolero is now back in the best-selling UV chart since the past few months. It returned in December 2019 after quite a hiatus but the warhorse continues to soldier on. In January 2020, the rugged vehicle sold a total of 7,233 units (6,482 Boleros and 751 Bolero Plus units), which is the highest monthly number yet in the ongoing fiscal after the 5,947 units in May 2019. Proof enough that consumers' hearts still throb for the muscled Mahindra. In the April 2019-January 2020 period, the Bolero has sold a total of 52,828 units, which works out to a monthly average of 5,289 units.
Mahindra’s other popular offering, the Scorpio, will undergo a full model change sometime next year. However, with the latest upgrade introduced on the ageing Bolero, there might not be an all-new replacement anytime soon.