Mahindra is roughly a year away from putting cars in UK showrooms, with three of its Oxfordshire-designed electric SUVs lined up to lead the launch, Autocar has learned. Early pricing suggests the Indian manufacturer will pitch at the upper end of the mainstream market, in similar territory to Cupra and DS.
The first of those cars is expected to be the BE 6, a dramatically styled electric SUV priced from around £41,000 to take on the Tesla Model Y, Ford Explorer and Renault Scenic. A larger XEV 9e, comparable in size to the BMW iX3 and Audi Q6, is tipped to sit above it at around £48,000.
A UK plan that stretches back a decade
Mahindra's UK ambitions are not new. The company entered the market in 2016 with the battery-powered e2o city car and outlined a strategy for a line-up of pure-electric models in the UK, where its Formula E team was already based. The e2o sold slowly and was dropped after a matter of months.
The plan was revived in 2022, when Mahindra revealed five electric SUVs styled at its newly opened Banbury design studio and confirmed it was targeting a European rollout. A year later it showed the chunky, Jeep-style Thar.E off-roader concept. Customer clinics have since taken place as the company works out its positioning and gauges commercial potential in the UK.
What the BE 6 and XEV 9e offer in India
Both models sit on Mahindra's self-developed Inglo EV platform. In India, the BE 6 is offered with 59kWh, 70kWh and 79kWh battery options, the largest sourced from China's BYD, for a claimed range of between 345 and 424 miles. Buyers there can choose between 225bhp and 278bhp rear-mounted motors. The XEV 9e shares the BE 6's platform and drivetrains.
Those range figures come from Mahindra's Indian claims and are not stated against a European test cycle, so they should not be read as directly comparable with WLTP figures for rivals.
UK specifications remain unconfirmed
Mahindra is understood to be targeting a simple line-up in Europe, with each model offered in just one mechanical specification, in the manner of Chinese brands Omoda, Jaecoo and Leapmotor. Which combination of motors and batteries it will export has not been announced.
That leaves the UK battery and motor specification for both the BE 6 and XEV 9e an open question. An undisguised BE 6 prototype has been spotted testing on public roads near Mahindra's Banbury base, which suggests homologation work is under way on UK-spec cars.
The single-spec approach is a sensible way for a new brand to keep costs and complexity down at launch, but it also narrows buyer choice to whatever Mahindra decides to homologate. Drivers who want the longest battery option may not get it.
Timing and what is still missing
Autocar understands Mahindra is around a year from showroom availability, with the launch reported as a 2027 UK entry. The identity of the third SUV in the trio has not been detailed.
Final UK pricing, official WLTP range and charging figures, and a firm on-sale date have not been announced. The £41,000 and £48,000 figures are described as early pricing information rather than confirmed list prices.
