A close look at the spy shots of the Mahindra Thar reveals that the grille design has changed on the final production SUV from the traditional seven-slat design seen on the test mules. We believe the new design was an afterthought and here’s why.
Mahindra debuted the new-gen Thar about a week ago but a lot of people do not seem impressed with the grille design. While Mahindra has absolutely nailed the design for the rest of the SUV, the grille weirdly seems out of place. Mahindra had been testing the new-gen Thar in India for almost two years and a look back at the spy pictures reveals a very interesting detail. It turns out that the grille design as seen on the final production SUV is indeed very different from the ones that we were seeing on the test mules for so long. So what went wrong here?
There have been several spy shots of the Thar which were doing rounds on the internet for the last two years and in all of them, the SUV can be seen wearing the traditional seven-slat grille that has been a signature styling element of the old-gen Thar as well as other Mahindra SUVs. It does not even require a trained eye to tell the differences from the test mule to the final production model. The production-spec Thar instead uses a single piece grille with black surrounds and six horizontal slats inside the grille. So why did Mahindra have to change the grille design?
Well, you see, Mahindra and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had been in a long court battle over the design of Mahindra’s Roxor. Earlier this year, Mahindra lost the law suit against FCA where the latter accused Mahindra for copying the grille design from vintage Jeep SUVs for their Roxor SUV. The Roxor is a Thar-based bare-bones off-roader that Mahindra specifically makes for the North American market. Following the lost court battle, Mahindra had to completely redesign the grille on the Roxor and now it does not feature any slats anymore.
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This happened in May this year, by when the Thar was already in its final phases of testing. Chances are that Mahindra had to alter the design of the grille on the Thar as well following the lost law suit. From the grille design as seen in the spy shots, the test mules are clearly wearing the seven-slat grille which honestly looks very Jeep-like. The grille as seen on the final production Thar thus very well could be a last moment change that was adopted to avoid further controversies. There’s however no denying the fact that the Thar draws its inspiration from old-school Jeeps and if the modern day Wrangler and Thar look very similar, then that’s because their roots are the same.
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A lot of enthusiasts in the country were looking forward to the new Thar for not requiring any modifications anymore but we are sure the grille is yet again going to be the most modified part of the new Mahindra Thar. And to that effect, a range of aftermarket grilles has already arrived even before the Thar has officially been launched. A few days ago, an image of a stack of Thar grilles surfaced on the internet. Sourced from a Mahindra dealer itself, the company could be offering these aftermarket grilles as genuine accessories. They however could not officially put it on the SUV, perhaps to avoid controversies. Even without the grille, the new Thar could still be one of the most widely modified vehicles in the country and we are very excited to see how people shape up their dream off-roader.
