2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500 Comparison

Tata Safari is among the most popular SUVs ever offered by the carmaker in the Indian market. It was known for its butcher looks, spacious cabin and all-terrain capabilities. Recently, the carmaker has introduced the new-gen model of the SUV, which was first showcased last year at the 2020 Auto Expo as Gravitas. The all-new Tata Safari is also known as a 6- or 7-seater Harrier. In its segment, it directly rivals against the likes of Mahindra XUV500, which was launched back in 2011. The Mahindra SUV is popular among buyers for its aggressive looks and feature-loaded cabin. Our detailed 2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500 comparison highlights the differences in design, interior, features, dimensions, price and specifications

2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500- Exterior Design

Starting with the 2021 Tata Safari, In terms of looks, the all-new Tata SUV looks quite similar to that of the Harrier, but there are still some differences. Both SUVs are based on the same platform. The front fascia of the SUV gets Harrier-like sleek LED DRLs and projector headlamps, which are positioned on the lower part of the bumper. The front grille of Tata Safari looks quite different from the one offered in Harrier as it gets a lot of chrome accents, which makes the all-new Tata SUV look more premium. On the side, it gets smart-looking 18-inch rims.

As compared to Harrier, 2021 Tata Safari is 63mm longer. On the side, it also gets stepped roof rails along with Safari badging on it. At the back, the SUV features a different looking rear bumper and faux skid plate. Moreover, it also features faux dual exhausts, which looks quite sporty. On the other hand, the first-gen Mahindra XUV500 has undergone only two minor facelifts since its launch. Although the Mahindra SUV is a little dated, it still manages to look aggressive and sporty. The SUV features a simpler, boxy silhouette along with a conventional headlight setup. The front fascia of the SUV gets a smart-looking grille with some premium chrome inserts.

Illumination duties are done by projector headlamps with LED DRLs and fog lamps. To give the Mahindra SUV a rugged look the carmaker also offers a faux skid plate upfront. On the side, it gets 18-inch, dual-tone multi-spoke alloy wheels and electronically adjustable wing mirrors with integrated turn blinkers. The side profile of the SUV also muscular wheel arches, which make the XUV500 look more purposeful. The rear profile of the SUV comprises an aggressive-looking wrap-around taillight, twin-exhaust pipes and a sporty looking spoiler with an integrated stoplight. Overall, the design language of the new-gen Tata Safari looks modern and much fresher as compared to the dated design on Mahindra XUV500.

2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500- Interior Design

The interiors of both SUVs looks quite premium and comes loaded with a lot of convenience features. The cabin of the new-gen Tata Safari features a dual-tone theme. It gets an 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The dashboard layout of the 2021 Tata Safari feels quite plush. The wooden inserts on the dashboard area of Safari are painted in dark grey colour shade. It employs a semi-digital, 7-inch TFT instrument cluster. The Mahindra XUV500 also gets a semi-digital instrument console, with two analogue metes and a small digital display.

In the new-gen Tata Safari, the AC vents are stacked below the floating touchscreen infotainment unit, while the AC vents of the Mahindra SUV positioned on the side sides of the centre console. The centre console of Mahindra XUV500 sits higher as compared to that of the Tata Safari. Moreover, Mahindra XUV500 and new-gen Tata Safari are adequately spacious as they offer ample amount of headroom and legroom, but the third-row is highly recommended for children in both SUVs. The 2021 Tata SUV is offered with a booth space of 447-litres, while the Mahindra XUV500 offers 93-litres of luggage space. One can see that the Tata Safari is more spacious than then Mahindra SUV in terms of boot space.

2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500- Features

Both SUV comes loaded with all the bells and whistles to offer an amazing experience to the driver and passengers. Talking about the new-gen Tata Safari, it employs features like an 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, connected car-tech, a six-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, a premium 9-speaker audio system from JBL, cruise control, a 7-inch display for the instrument cluster, an auto-dimming IRVM, drive modes, a panoramic sunroof, Xenon HID projector headlamps and much more.

The Tata SUV also gets an electronic parking brake and connected car technology. The latter consists of geo-fencing, vehicle health report, iRA personal assistant with Hindi, English and Hinglish voice commands.In terms of safety features, both SUVs gets hill hold control and hill descent control, rear parking camera, ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors, six airbags, ESP-based terrain response mods, traction control, rollover mitigation, corner stability control and electronic stability program. 

On the other hand, the Mahindra XUV500 comes loaded with features like a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a small digital MID, a smaller sunroof and a semi-digital instrument console. The Mahindra SUV is not offered connected car features, but it gets smartphone and smartwatch connectivity through the Mahindra Blue Sense app with limited voice commands. Moreover, the Mahindra XUV500 is only offered in a 7-seat configuration, while the all-new Tata SUV is offered in 6- and 7-seater versions.

2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500- Dimensions

The overall size of both SUVs is quite huge. Talking about the new-gen Tata Safari, dimensionally, the SUV is 4,661 mm long, 1,849 mm wide and 1,786 mm tall. On the other hand, the Mahindra XUV500 is 4,585 mm long, 1,890 mm wide and 1,785 mm tall. The new-gen Tata Safari is slightly bigger than the XUV500.

The major difference is only being in the height of both SUVs. The 2021 Tata Safari is 76 mm longer than the XUV500. Both SUVs gets 18-inch alloy wheels, which are shod with 235/60 section rubber. Moreover, the Tata SUV stands 205 mm above the ground, while the XUV500 offers a ground clearance of 200 mm.

2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500- Specifications

The new-gen Tata Safari is powered by a 1.5-litre Kryotec turbocharged diesel mill. This motor is capable of shredding out power and torque outputs of 170 PS and 350 Nm. The engine comes paired with a 6-speed MT or a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox. The SUV is only offered in FWD format, but one can expect the 4X4 version to arrive in the near future. Mechanically, the Mahindra XUV500 is propelled by a 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine, which develops 155 PS of power and 360 Nm of peak torque.

Transmission duties are done by a 6-speed MT or a 6-speed AT. Earlier, the SUV was offered in both FWD and AWD trims, although the AWD version of the SUV is currently discontinued. One can see that mechanically, both SUVs are almost equally powerful. The turbocharged diesel engine offered in Tata SUV produces more power, while the Mahindra XUV500’s turbo-diesel mill offers more torque.

2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500- Price

Talking about the pricing of both SUVs, the 2021 Tata Safari is offered at a starting price of Rs 14.69 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the base trim and goes all the way up to Rs 21.45 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the top-spec variant.

On the other hand, the Mahindra XUV500 is priced between Rs 13.83 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) to Rs 19.56 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Soon, the carmaker will introduce the new-gen model of the SUV as it has been spied several times while getting tested on Indian roads.

2021 Tata Safari vs Mahindra XUV500- Comparison

We have compared both SUVs on the basis of their looks, cabin, features, dimensions, mechanical specs and so on. One can see that the Mahindra XUV500 is the more affordable among the two. Moreover, the Mahindra SUV has a more SUVish like stance, while the Safari seems to be a mixture of an SUV and MPV. But, the Tata SUV feels plusher and comes loaded with a lot of advanced features as compared to the Mahindra XUV500. If you are looking out for an SUV with newer styling and some advanced features, you can check out the all-new Tata Safari.