Mahindra XUV300 Customer Cancels Booking to Buy Tata Nexon Over A Safety Feature Many Ignore

The sub-4m compact-SUVs space is currently the most hotly-contested one in the Indian market. Arranging these SUVs in the increasing order of their safety ratings, Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300 top the chart with their 5-star crash test ratings. Both of these cars come with a lot of active and passive safety systems. But, recently Mahindra has updated the equipment list of the XUV300, which has resulted in the deletion of rear-seat headrests from the entry-level W4 trim. Earlier, the XUV300 used to come with adjustable headrests for all the occupants as standard fitment across the range. Upset with this move, a prospective customer recently shared his reaction on the same via a social media platform.

The customer posted “Had done research for a month to finally decide on XUV300 W4 petrol only to find out last night that rear headrests have been removed which is a basic safety feature. So booked Nexon today. You lost a customer with ur cheap marketing gimmicks.” While we aren’t aware of the reason behind this move, but it seems like customers are upset with it. Although, the bigger market share of the Tata Nexon could just be another reason for the customer to change his mind.

The Nexon, on the other hand, gets fixed headrests for the rear seat occupants in the base-spec XE trim. The top-end variants come with adjustable headrests. However, the Nexon only gets dual-front airbags even in the top-spec trims, whereas the XUV300 offers seven airbags.

Talking the powertrain options, Tata Nexon can be had with either a 1.2L turbo petrol motor or a 1.5L oil burner which develop 120 PS/170 Nm and 110 PS/260 Nm, respectively. The transmission options on the Nexon include 6-speed MT and 6-speed AMT. Mahindra XUV300 is also available with two engine options – 1.2L turbo-petrol and 1.5L diesel. The former puts outs a peak output of 110 PS and 200 Nm, while the latter is capable of developing 116 PS and 300 Nm. The XUV300 can be had mated to either a 6-speed MT or 6-speed AMT.