Premium Promise

Siddharth feels that the revolutionary new Rexton holds tremendous promise for Mahindra.

- Siddharth Vinayak Patankar

The Rexton has been the flagship of the SsangYong Motor Company since its debut in 2001. The first generation (Y200) was built using the first Mercedes-Benz M-Class (W163) platform, which was a ladder-on-frame chassis. Along with the platform, SsangYong also received engines and transmissions under license from Daimler. This was the result of an agreement and partnership that SsangYong had with Daimler since 1995. The car was designed by Giugiaro, and in 2003 also went on sale in Europe. The Rexton is the reason for whatever success SsangYong has had globally. It received a major facelift, but was already an ageing workhorse when Mahindra took control of SsangYong in 2011. Nevertheless, the Rexton W (a second facelift) was introduced in 2012, and this is the version we got in India.

SsangYong has taken a conscious decision to push through another ladderon-frame car, instead of going the monocoque route. So, the new Y400 gives us an all-new, modern and capable Rexton. Now, since the last Rexton didn’t do as well in India as Mahindra had hoped, there was a lot of speculation that this new car wouldn’t be sold in India at all – and indeed that the SsangYong brand would disappear altogether. The latter may well be true, but what I can tell you is that we will be getting this car in India – and, in all likelihood, this fiscal year itself. But it may not be badged SsangYong. Instead, it’ll likely be launched as a Mahindra model. The idea would be to take on the market leader – the Toyota Fortuner – head-on. But being new is one thing – the question is whether the company has done enough to make the 2nd generation Rexton a strong adversary to the established models?