Report - Mahindra working on 3- and 4-cylinder petrol engines for future vehicles

03/10/2013 - 18:32 Mahindra Anjan Ravi

Mahindra have in their portfolio two compact, sub-4m vehicles, the Quanto and the Verito Vibe. What they do not have are small petrol engines powering these cars.

Mahindra Quanto Engine bay — The first engine is learned to be a 1.2L turbocharged unit that will find application on the Mahindra S101 and Ssangyong's B-Segment SUV.

All that is about to change as the company is working on a new family of petrol engines. Speaking to Autocar India, Dr. Pawan Goenka, executive director of Mahindra & Mahindra, said three and four cylinder engines, are under development, based off the same platform. He said Mahindra petrol engines in the past were compromised as they were based on a diesel engine. The petrol engines that are currently being developed are however all-new, and developed grounds up. He said these engines would be as good as any other equivalent petrol engine from competitors.

Goenka also said that he foresees a slowdown in diesel demand and hence it is necessary to have "strong petrol engine options". The first petrol engine is believed to be a 1.2-liter three-cylinder unit that would power the upcoming compact crossover which has been codenamed S101. The S101 is unlikely to debut before 2016 however.

In May this year, Mahindra-owned Ssangyong announced that they would also be developing small-sized engines, which would first be seen on their new CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle), a vehicle smaller than the current Korando which would launch in 2015.