Mahindra Discontinues Bolero; Power+ Variant To Soldier On

Mahindra has decided to discontinue its oldest and most rugged model, the Bolero. The company will now offer the Bolero in Power+ variants only owing to new norms regarding passenger safety in the country. The now-discontinued Bolero was offered with a 2.5-litre diesel unit which produced 63PS of max power and 195Nm of peak torque and came mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. This ‘regular’ Bolero was priced between Rs 7.74 lakh and Rs 9.42 lakh. This made it pricier than the sub-4 metre Bolero Power+ which now costs between Rs 7.49 lakh and Rs 9.04 lakh after the addition of new safety features. The Bolero Power+ is quite like the regular Bolero as far as the cabin space is concerned and the only difference between the two is of the trimmed bumpers and a 1.5-litre diesel engine. This change has been made to bring the car under the sub-4m category and price it competitively. The regular Bolero was expected to be axed since it lacked basic safety features like ABS, an airbag and a seatbelt reminder. However, these features were added to the Power+ variants owing to the new safety norms in the country. The discontinued Bolero’s m2DiCR engine was confirmed to be updated to meet the BS6 norms by Mahindra. The Bolero Power+, on the other hand, is powered by Mahindra’s mHawk D70 1.5-litre diesel engine which is capable of producing 71PS of power and 195Nm of torque. Even though a BS6 version is yet to be introduced, ARAI has already given a BS6 certification to this particular engine. The Bolero Power+ now packs standard safety features like ABS, driver-side airbag, reverse parking sensors, high speed alert and front occupant seatbelt reminder. The new BS6-compliant version of the Bolero will be launched by Mahindra in 2020.