Can a brightly coloured, quirky hatchback posing as a sports utility vehicle (SUV) make the SA public love Mahindra?When the Indian vehicle brand first landed in SA in 2004, virtually the only selling-point of its Scorpio and Bolero workhorse vehicles was price. At the time, executives said that, like the Japanese and Koreans before them, Indian brands (Tata had launched here a few weeks earlier) would take time to improve quality and gain SA market acceptance.It’s been a slow process. Annual sales grew to about 4,000 annually, then stalled. Despite what marketers claimed, South Africans did not spend their waking hours dreaming of owning a Mahindra 4x4 or bakkie.Mahindra has softened its image in recent times, bringing in SUVs like the Xylo, Quanto and XUV500. And now it has the KUV100. Launched this month, it’s an important vehicle for the future of the brand in SA. As the cheapest passenger vehicle of its kind by some distance, its performance could make or break Mahindra’s dream...
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