Mahindra Thar Roxx: The Mahindra Thar Roxx is a mega leap for one of India’s most iconic automotive badges as it democratizes the Thar’s tough DNA into a more lifestyle-friendly five-door profile.
It’s a clever product strategy that keeps the Thar’s off-road cred authentic while overcoming certain compromises that made the old Thar’s appeal limited largely to enthusiasts and recreational users.
Mahindra Thar Roxx: Evolution of the design
Meanwhile, the Thar Roxx does a good job of carrying forward the silhouette of the regular three-door Thar to the longer wheelbase body style by retaining elements like the vertical seven-slot grille, round headlamps, squarish wheel arches and the upright windshield.
Such design compatibility is kept in order to ensure brand identity on one side and the effective integration of rear doors and the opening up of the interior on the other.
The longer roofline Above the waist, the profile adds the extra set of doors with minimal detriment to the car’s persona with body lines and proportions that don’t give you any of the ungainly looks of something that was masked with an extended wheelbase – there’s just a more grand air to the package.
At the back, it sticks with the wicked tailgate-mounted spare wheel and upright taillights which are now Thar trademarks, but with some mild enhancements indicative of its more premium positioning.
This design philosophy is a testament to Mahindra’s capability to understand that it is necessary to retain the original character, even when enhancing practicality—something that not many OEMs have managed to do when it comes to making their iconic models cater to a wider market.
Enhanced Practicality
The most technical update, however, is the jaw-droppingly improved everyday usability of the Thar Roxx.
The five-door stance obviously allows for direct access to a ‘proper’ rear seating area that can fit adults in reasonable comfort — addressing arguably one of the biggest drawbacks of the Thar in terms of a family-oriented buyer.
The stretched size also does wonders for boot space, with more luggage room behind the side-hinged rear door.
These functional add-ons collectively make the Thar anything but an always-compromised recreational ute and, instead, a serious daily driver that pulls double, and triple, duty without oozing of compromise.
Interior Refinement
On the inside, the Thar Roxx takes forward the rather functional approach of the original model with better materials, additional noise insulation and more kit to meet demand from the wider audience.
The dashboard design, while maintaining the utilitarian and robust ethos of the Thar, includes a bigger touchscreen infotainment system, more modern climate controls and more convenience features.
Seating materials marries durability with enhanced comfort and aesthetics, updated lighting and storage solutions offer increased day to day livability.
These details make sense, that Thar Roxx buyers would want a bit more daily comfort but would still value the genuine off-roader.
Mechanical Evolution
Beneath the skin, the Thar Roxx continues with the strong mechanical foundation that made the base model a proper off-roader.
The ladder frame chassis is immensely solid for such a long wheelbase vehicle, and there’s independent front and multi-link rear suspension to bring some on-road tourist friendly manners without throwing away the bike-style articulation that rough tracks demand.
At launch, under the hood, it is expected that the new-gen Scorpio will get Mahindra’s reliable 2.2-litre mHawk diesel and the 2.0-litre mStallion petrol units that promise meaty torque to tackle off-road challenges.
The 4WD system is also a low-range set-up and has mechanical diff locks on select variants, so the Roxx is no less serious as a go-anywhere proposition than a lifestyle statement.
Market Positioning
The Thar Roxx holds an important slot in Mahindra’s growing SUV range, nesting between the leisure-oriented regular Thar and the other more conventional SUVs such as the XUV700 and Scorpio-N.
This stance recognizes the expanding consumer requirement for vehicles that offer unique personality and off-road power such without experiencing the compromises that are unavoidable for fully dedicated off-road vehicles.
In the overall market, the Thar Roxx is up against a variety of competitors including formidable off-roaders such as the Force Gurkha to regular midsize SUVs and while many of them do offer what the Thar does, one thing they don’t is the credibility of design and heritage, which the Thar has in bucket loads over all of them.
Mahindra Thar Roxx:
The Mahindra Thar Roxx is a testament to sensible product development: expanding appeal without watering down brand essence.
While keeping the same basic nature that made the Thar an iconic car and adding practicality where needed, I think Mahindra has cut together a compelling product for people who desire something with different design and real capability as part of their everyday life.