Bolero ballet

SPORTS UTILITY Vehicles (SUVs) are the flavour of the month internationally and have, surprisingly, remained that way for the better part of a decade. The centre of gravity of the SUV segment has moved away from the soldiers and farmers for whom they were originally intended towards those who can charitably be described as fashion victims with a few leisure enthusiasts thrown in for good measure. These vehicles have proved enormously profitable for their manufacturers with Ford reportedly making a profit of over $15,000 on some of their truck based SUVs.

It must be said, however, that these vehicles are often preferred by women who feel intimidated by overly aggressive male drivers (no comment on their female counterparts). In addition, many drivers prefer them for their commanding view while small children can actually look out on the road.

SUV advertising plays (or preys?) on a different theme with the rescue of damsels in supposed distress being central. Another is the exploration of the great outdoors. In reality most SUV drivers would be terrified in difficult conditions and the less said about damsels in distress the better.

Utilitarian segment

On the other hand, the utility vehicle segment in India was largely utilitarian. The Mahindra in its various guises was the only one available ever since it was introduced nearly 50 years ago as the Willys Jeep. Going back further, users in the army were introduced to the jeep (an acronym for general purpose) during the Second World War and the civilian population got their fill from cheap war surplus left and right hand drive vehicles immediately thereafter. These were invariably petrol driven, but one often saw Fords in addition to Willys's. The superb aluminium bodied Land Rovers came thereafter, but were few and far between. Even rarer was the Mercedes Gelandewagen.

Mahindra made a few changes particularly with diesel-powered variants initially using their International Harvester tractor engines followed by Peugeot licensed ones. When the rugged, but thirsty, indirectly injected IH tractor engine was transformed into a fuel efficient, directly injected one, courtesy AVL of Austria, it made its way into the jeep as well.

Enters the Gypsy

The introduction of the Maruti Gypsy in the mid 1980s changed this cosy monopoly abruptly. The performance of the Gypsy was phenomenal compared to the traditional jeep and quality control levels were exceptionally high.

The Gypsy was not as stable, though, and repairs were expensive. The security services and automobile enthusiasts were quick to embrace the new comer, while the diesel Mahindras continued with the traditional government departments and in the rural areas. A further twist to this tale was the Tata Sierra in the early 1990s. Introduced as a `lifestyle' vehicle, it proved to be coarse, unreliable and a commercial failure. Telco learnt its lessons well and the luxurious, and expensive, Safari, which followed with its turbo charged engine is doing fairly well in the market. The Mahindra Armada and Armada Grand, in contrast, were poorly designed and executed.

The Toyota Qualis, which came out almost exactly a year ago, made no pretensions at being a `go anywhere' vehicle. It is ill proportioned and not even `new technology'. Its only claim to fame is first class quality coupled with the Toyota name for reliability and loads of space. The Indian customer seems to think that is enough.

The introduction of the Bolero by M&M is a fine move to take on both the Safari and the Qualis on their own turf at a much lower price. The styling is aggressive and `modern' `a la' the Jeep Cherokee and the reduction in noise, vibration and harshness levels is impressive. The improvement in ride is a quantum step up from that of the Armada. The air-conditioning and music systems work well as do the power windows although the controls take some getting used to. Luggage space, though, is very limited compared to the competition.

The engine is smooth and willing with bags of torque even at low rpm giving it great flexibility. The gearbox is directly controlled and therefore promises long life and trouble free performance. The rear axle is fully floating unlike that of the semi-floating type on the Qualis, but the Bolero does not have the limited slip differential of the much more expensive Safari.

Although the Bolero has been on sale only since September it is proving to be a real life line for M&M with its rugged and proven mechanicals, refinement and keen pricing. Why did M&M take so long to bring it to the market? And where will the forthcoming and more car-like Scorpio fit in the scheme of things?

C. Manmohan Reddy

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