An In-Depth First Look At The Mahindra Marazzo

The Xylo was Mahindra’s first attempt at the MPV market, it didn’t really set the sales chart on fire, even though it was fairly inexpensive compared to the Innova. The design of the Xylo did not go well with the buyers, who flocked towards Innova and Ertiga. The Xylo was launched in 2009 and 9 years later, Mahindra is back in the MPV segment with the all-new Marazzo. 

The Marazzo was designed in collaboration with Pininfarina, Italy, developed and engineered at Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA), Detroit and produced at Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) Chennai. 

In the looks department 

Exterior: The Marazzo was designed in collaboration with Italian Design house – Pininfarina, this is evident in the mature lines of the new MPV from Mahindra. In the front, the Marazzo gets a stubby nose with nice angular bonnet. The headlamps get projectors and extend towards the fenders. Mahindra’s Classic 7 slat grille with anodized finish takes the center stage. The front bumper is well sculpted with a hexagonal grille in the middle, the fog light cluster houses the cornering lamps and daytime running lights as well.

The Marazzo looks best when viewed from the side. Floating roof design with a smart shoulder crease running through the doors to the rear quarter gives it a smart urban look. The bulging wheel arches hide the 17inch wheels with 215/60 section tires. The side view mirrors are big and attached to the doors, offering excellent visibility. The Marazzo has a plastic cladding running from the below the front bumper, rear bumper and below the side doors, while cutting the monotony of the design it gives a tough look to the vehicle. 

The rear of the Marazzo is simple yet chic. The tail light cluster is big in size but there is no LED here. There is a chrome strip running through the center of the back, below the rear window, this chrome strip merges into the tail light cluster’s reverse light. The brake light has a boomerang shape chrome strip on the sides and rear fog lamps/reflectors are placed on the edges of the rear bumper. The rear window of the Marazzo is fitted with defogger and rear wiper. A small yet smart spoiler with integrated stop lamp completes the rear of the Marazzo. 

Interior: Mahindra has put together very refreshing and upmarket interiors in the New Marazzo. The Cabin forward design with transversely mounted engine coupled with front wheel drive design, opens up a lot of space inside. The dashboard of the Marazzo is well designed and all the buttons are well within reach. On co-passenger side, the dashboard facia gets a checkerboard design which fades to gloss black. A frameless 7inch touchscreen unit is flush mounted on the center of the dash. The FATC buttons exist below the infotainment unit and seem like the ones from the XUV. Mahindra has given the Marazzo a 3-spoke steering wheel with steering buttons for Cruise control and Audio controls. The top of the dashboard is big and has space to store items. A generous amount of beige plastic is used in the interiors giving it a bright and airy feel. The six-speed gear lever is a part of the dashboard and in the space between the gear lever and the aircraft styled handbrake level, there are USB charging points. The placement of these charging points seem odd at the first glance but while using them we found the cable clutter from the charging cables stays out of visible range. 

The front doors panels are covered in beige and black plastic with a silver design in between cutting the monotony. The rear doors have a built-in sunshade, a first in class feature which even Innova Crysta does not have. Marazzo’s doors open wide and when coupled with a low floor height, ingress and egress are very easy. In the 7 seat configuration, the Marazzo comes with Captain-styled seats in the middle row, These seats offer excellent headroom, shoulder room, and legroom, but they are a little short on under-thigh support. These seats can be reclined and move front and back offering a variety of adjustments. A one-touch fold and roll over feature is provided for getting into the last row. The last row of seats offer decent amount space and is very usable.

The Aircraft style AC unit is a unique proposition, not only does it provide direct air flow to the middle and rear passengers. Once the cabin is cool enough, it can be switched to diffused airflow mode too. The design of the rear AC unit goes well with overall interiors of the Marazzo. Front and Middle row seats get individual foldable arm rests. The quality of materials used, the textures and the color combinations inside give the Marazzo’s interior a very upmarket look and feel. Being an MPV comfort while travelling long distances is key, and the front seats offer lower back support along with height adjustment for the driver’s seat.

Engine: Mahindra has developed a brand new 1500cc 4 cylinder diesel power plant for the Marazzo, this motor has been developed in collaboration with IVL. Mahindra engines are known for their smoothness and grunt. Scorpio and XUV, for example, have excellent NVH levels and punchy motors. The Marazzo shares the same genes, the new powertrain is almost silent at idle, with mild diesel clatter while on the move, the NVH levels inside the cabin is superior. While driving the Marazzo on Mahindra’s test track, we did not feel any vibrations creep through from the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals. The ABC pedals are well placed and the light clutch is easy on the knees as well. Mahindra’s new motor puts out 121hp and 300nm of torque. 80% of the 300nm torque figure is available from as low as 1400rpm, making the Marazzo easy to drive at low rpms, in 3rd gear at 1400rpm most of the diesel engines would start lugging but not the Marazzo, the healthy dose of torque at low rpms makes for a comfortable cruiser. The 6-speed manual gearbox is refined, the gears slot through gates without any problem and the gear lever does not vibrate during starting and shutting the engine. 

During our short test drive of the Mahindra Marazzo, we found the steering to be light and easy to turn lock to lock. The steering, although accurate, lacks feel and doesn’t offer much feedback but this is not a sports car, comfort and fatigue-free driving are the goals here and the Marazzo does not disappoint. 

Safety: Mahindra offers only two airbags on the Marazzo, while being targeted as a people mover the safety of all occupants should have been taken into consideration. Airbags aside the Marazzo comes with 4wheel disc brakes, ISOFIX child seat mounts, boxed steel frame, collapsible steering column, crumple zones, and side impact beams. ABS is standard across all variants. The Middle and high variants get the rear camera with sensors, cornering lamps and the Marazzo also has the ability to call the emergency services when it detects airbags deployment. Mahindra claims the Marazzo meets front, side and rear crash norms. 

Pricing: The Marazzo faces stiff competition from the Toyota Innova Crysta, TaTa Hexa, and Maruti Ertiga while Renault Lodgy and Chevy Enjoy could not make a mark in this segment. Marazzo is considerably cheaper than the Big boys – Innova Crysta and Hexa, Maruti’s Ertiga is cheaper but Ertiga is short on many of the premium features and upmarket feel of the Marazzo. 

Mahindra has taken a giant step in terms of Fit and Finish, Cabin Design, Ergonomics and Comfort with the New Marazzo. Mahindra’s global teams from MANA, MRV and Pininfarina have created a product unlike any Mahindra before. The Marazzo has the capability of taking away buyers from Ertiga and Innova Crysta, Mahindra needs to add in an Automatic Transmission and The Marazzo Package will be unbeatable.