Mahindra changes name game with 'NuvoSport'

Mahindra recently launched its latest compact SUV, the 'NuvoSport' in India at Rs 7.35 lakh (ex-showroom Thane).

The new SUV will replace the 'Quanto', the carmaker's first sub-four-metre SUV, which has been struggling since its launch in September 2012. The Quanto will now be discontinued, the company has said.

"The NuvoSport will replace the Quanto," Pravin Shah, President and Chief Executive, M&M, has said.

The home-grown automaker is optimistic about its new compact SUV.

While speaking to reporters at the launch, Shah said, “...the NuvoSport with its unique positioning encourages consumers to go out and fulfil their bucket lists in the area of adventure sports. We are confident the NuvoSport will emerge as yet another winner from our stable,” said Shah.

There's something else that's unique to the NuvoSport. And it's all in the name.

This is the first time the carmaker has taken a complete departure from its nomenclature style. Most Mahindras that we've come to see, get an 'O' at the end of their names – Scorpio, Quanto, Verito, e2o, Bolero, Xylo – even the relatively new Mahindra, the TUV 300, actually has two 'O's in its name. In an interview, Anand Mahindra had clarified that the name of the car is, in fact, TUV "three double O".

Even Mahindra XUV 500, like the TUV, has two 'O's in its name.

Which means, the only Mahindra car with sans the 'O' in the name is the Thar.

The 'NuvoSport' is the first car which breaks away from the company's naming language. Whether the carmaker plans to move further away from its usual style or if it's a one-off thing, is yet to be seen.

The company did not respond a query from dna seeking a reason behind the different name for the new compact SUV.

The NuvoSport gets a 1.5-litre diesel engine developed on the third generation mHawq100 platform, the same one that underpins the Scorpio. Prices for the compact SUV go up to Rs 9.76 lakh for the top-end AMT model.

Mahindra has spent Rs 115 crore in developing the NuvoSport which was developed at the Chennai R&D and Design Centre over a period of two years.