Mahindra and Ford have signed two new deals as a part of the MoUs signed in March 2018. As part of the new deal, Mahindra will develop and supply a new low-capacity petrol engine which complies with BSVI emission norms to Ford from 2020.
While the joint official statement doesn’t divulge into the details of the new petrol engine, we believe it could be the new 1.5-litre unit that Mahindra is co-developing with its South Korean partner SsangYong.
The 1.5-litre Mahindra-SsangYong petrol engine is expected to power the Marazzo MPV, which is currently offered with a sole 1.5-litre diesel engine. If this is the case, we expect this engine to make its official debut with the Marazzo’s petrol version, which is set to hit the market post the implementation of BSVI emission norms from 1 April, 2020.
Mahindra has already confirmed that the Marazzo’s petrol engine will be available with an automatic transmission. So expect Mahindra to supply this transmission to Ford as well. This new powertrain is expected to find a place under the bonnet of upcoming mid-size and compact SUVs jointly developed by both manufacturers.
This raises the all important question of whether Ford plans to continue offering their latest 3-cylinder, naturally aspirated Dragon family of 1.2-lire and 1.5-litre petrol engines. Well, Ford says it will continue to offer these engines alongside the upcoming one as they are already BSVI-ready.
Besides the new petrol engine, Mahindra and Ford will also develop a telematics control unit as part of the second agreement signed recently. Currently, manufacturers Maruti Suzuki, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and Toyota offer such services with their cars. A telematic control unit lets users track the location of their car while also providing a diagnosis of the car's health through a proprietary smartphone application.
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Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.
