Mahindra Xylo vs new Toyota Innova 2009

This post is a quick comparison of recently launched Mahindra Xylo with Toyota Innova (New 2009 release with a facelift) both competing in the MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) category.

Quick Navigation: Intro * Safety * Comfort, Looks & Other aspects * Fuel Economy * Conclusion *

Background: Toyota Innova, soon after its launch in 2005, created a class for itself and about 1.6 lakh Innovas are plying on Indian roads currently, most of them as commercial vehicles and rest as family wagons. It hardly had any direct competition so far as its closest rivals- Scorpio, Tavera and the likes had a jeep like rugged look and feeling, compared to almost like a car comfort, look, drivability and luxury of Innova. Sedans had a limitation of space and seating capacity and Innova was happy to bridge that, without any significant compromise.

Mahindra & Mahindra has rightly launched Xylo to take Innova head on. With a price tag about 2 lakhs less than a corresponding Innova variant, Xylo has high possibility of making its makers proud by claiming a good market share. Xylo has slapped a right question on all potential car owners- Are you sure you want to spend Rs 6 lakhs on a hatchback like Swift or i20? Or 7-9 lakhs on a Sedan like SX4, Ford Fiesta or City? Why not buy our multipurpose vehicle, Xylo, which gives you more seats, more space, at same price without compromising on comfort and luxury? Won’t you like to outgrow your Sedan? It is for you to decide…

Coming back to core purpose of this post, let us compare these two multipurpose vehicles- Toyota Innova vs Mahindra Xylo. Please note that Innova is available in both petrol and diesel variants-Only diesel variant is considered here and only top end variants are considered for comparison (Xylo E8 vs Innova D-4D 2.5V)

Both Innova and Xylo have several things in common-2.5 liters Common Rail Diesel engine, 5.4m turn radius, 7 or 8 seat options, almost similar dimensions and 55 liters fuel tank. That apart, while Innova tries to maintain a clean car like look, Xylo has been pampered with skyrack, bigger tyres and higher ground clearance to reinstate a “much mature than a sedan” feeling.

Safety: Innova is more safer

Comparing the top end models of Innova and Xylo, Innova scores much higher because of dual airbags (driver and passenger), Driver and passenger seat belt warning, Side Door Impact beams (reinforced steel beams that absorb the impact and prevent occupants from being crushed), Collapsible steering (Steering will unit will collapse to floor upon collision) and LSPV (Load Sensing Proportion Valve, a cousin of ABS, which can regulate breaking effect depending on the load- at full load of 8 people extra breaking effort is needed due to higher momentum and at light loads excessive breaking can cause skidding-I guess LSPV will compensate for these factors)

Xylo sans ABS-even in top end E6 & E8, let alone airbags. But it has a crumple zone under the bonnet that can absorb the impact of collision and prevents the same from being passed to occupants inside the cabin. Effectiveness of this crumple zone is not yet known and I don't think this can be treated as replacement for airbag. Both cars have parking (reverse) sensors. Comparing E8 & 2.5V Absence of ABS & airbags gets Xylo a relatively lesser ranking on Safety. If you compare no frills base models- E2, E4 with 2.5E, 2.5G, then both of them stand at par as far as safety is concerned.

Comfort and Drivability: Innova gave me a much smoother, comfortable and better drive, when the roads were good. Xylo had very hard transmission just like its cousin Scorpio mHawk. The Scorpio Vls I’d driven in Sep 2008 had a hard transmission which resulted in good amount of strain on my left arm at the end of 3 days 900 kms drive (Something I didn’t experience in other long drives, the 1300 kms/3 days in Skoda Octavia as well as 1850 kms/5 days in a Swift VDi). As suspected even Xylo had similarly hard transmission. A little extra muscle power will be required while changing gears and this can be stressful on your left arm during long drives. Rest of the aspects like engine response, maneuverability etc were good enough. Xylo has more height while Innova is lengthier.

Space: Xylo has slightly larger dimensions. But space is a function of flexibility to adjust various seats to secure required volume. Both vehicles claim to be fully flexible... There's hardly any space in Xylo behind 3rd row-you may have to either go for a roof mounted carrier or fold the third row seats to keep that large suitcase.

Looks and Feel: Innova has been around for years and will no more turn a head. Even the new 2009 model just sports a modified front grill, headlamp and tail lamp combination. Xylo, though has nothing astonishing in its looks, is the new baby in town and can grab some attention in the initial days. Scorpio still has better overall looks than Xylo. Innova has a neat, lean and more aero dynamic looks. Xylo comes in some exciting colours while Innova's default shades look boring, simply because we've seen so many of them.

Price: Xylo variants (E2, E4,E6 and E8) range cost between 6.26 to 7.7 lakhs while Innova (2.5E, G and V) cost between 7.64 to 11.1 lakhs ex showroom. Add about 20% to these prices to arrive at an approx on road price (white board, about 10% in case of yellow board). Xylo's price advantage of 1.5 to 3 lakhs w.r.t a corresponding Innova variant can be tempting, but I feel Innova's high price gets somewhat justified for a quality and safety conscious customer.

Other aspects:

Xylo has some fancy features like Glass Antenna (instead of conventional steel rod), Side body cladding, Ski rack (only in E6), theatre effect lamps (lights go off slowly in style, like in theatres), foldable flight trays behind the seats, courtesy lamps (lamps illuminating specific target areas and not just lighting up the cabin in general), Illumination Ring around the keyhole to help identify the same in night, roof console, under seat storage and Digital Drive assist (a host of information you may need while driving. Some of these are interesting & useful and you can happily show them off to your friends...

On the other hand, the new 2009 Toyota Innova boasts audio controls on the steering wheel (a feature now getting common in many cars, after Maruti introduced it in SX4, Xylo misses it), Automatic Climate Control, Adjustable passenger seat (in addition to driver’s) and several safety measures mentioned earlier. Toyota's quality and reliability has been tried and tested. More feedback on Xylo will be known only after some time.

Common features: Both Innova and Xylo offer alloy wheels in most expensive variants, flat bed front seats, electronic control for external rear view mirrors, customized AC controls, captain seats, tilt steering, height adjustment for driver seats, wood finish interiors, two DIN audio system and side protection molding.

Fuel Economy: Exact fuel economy rates are not known at this point. Mahindra vehicles are generally not popular with travel operators primarily because of slightly less economy compared to its rivals. 2.5 liters Innova diesel gives about 12-13kmpl. Scorpio 2.2 mHawk gave me 13kmpl last September (that was before its first service). 2.5 litre mEagle of Xylo, which is marginally powerful than Innova (which is much lighter than Xylo by about 175Kgs) is believed to give 12 kmpl in city and 13-14 in highway, as per Mahindra representative. Good if that is true.

Conclusion: I refrain from giving a general verdict as I’ve not examined both vehicles in detail and personal preferences can differ. However this is my opinion:

Buy Innova if you are:

• Looking for a passenger vehicle primarily for city and highway use
• Not constrained with budget and don't want to trade safety for cost advantage
• Keen on less operating cost and high resale value

Buy Xylo if you

• Prefer a more rugged vehicle, say for urban, non-urban use, without much compromise on luxury
• Are attracted by the price difference, Xylo's looks, colours or the fact that it is a new baby in town
• Feel Xylo is a better option than Chevy Tavera and Sumo Grande

Hope this helps. Images from respective company websites. Expect some more updates and photos if I get to test drive one. Your views welcome.

Update: I finally test drove Xylo. My views by and large remain the same, but additional details in this post-Mahindra Xylo test drive review.

May 2009 Update: Drove the new 2009 Innova. Most of my observations listed above are vindicated. Engine is much smoother than the current one. Rear sensor is just the beep, which beeps faster if there're obstacles closeby. No visual indications like in Xylo. Climate Control is basically temperature control, which tries to maintain car temperature at a preset value.

November 2010 Update: We toured Coorg in an Innova 2.5G from Avis, self drive... was a nice drive

Go to top * Scorpio mHawk Vls review * Maruti A-Star Review * Wayanad Trip in a Scorpio * Chennai-Mysore in Skoda Octavia * Fiat Linea Review * Detailed review of Xylo *