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About Thar

The Thar is Mahindra's love letter to its Jeep heritage, a boxy off-roader with a ladder frame, a removable roof on some versions and the kind of ground clearance that turns monsoon flooding into an adventure. The first version, launched in 2010, was a crude and charming throwback. The second generation, which arrived in 2020, cleaned it up with proper seats, turbocharged petrol and diesel engines and an automatic option, and suddenly city buyers who had never seen a mud track were lining up for one, some waiting many months for delivery.

Its American-flavored looks have caused trouble before: Jeep's parent company fought Mahindra over the Thar-like Roxor sold in the United States, a reminder of how closely the shape echoes the old Willys. On the road the Thar is bouncy and noisy, and the three-door body makes it impractical for families, which is precisely why the five-door Thar Roxx arrived with more space, more equipment and a more civilized ride. Owners forgive the compromises easily, because few vehicles at the price deliver as much character, or as many admiring looks at a fuel station.

Today the range covers the three-door model, offered in rear-drive and four-wheel-drive forms, and the Roxx, which competes with Maruti Suzuki's five-door Jimny and Force's Gurkha while poaching buyers from conventional SUVs. Mahindra has also shown an electric Thar concept, and celebrities, gift-givers and modifiers have kept the nameplate a fixture of Indian pop culture. Aftermarket shops do a roaring trade in lift kits, light bars and wheels, and Thar owners' clubs organize trail runs across the Himalayan foothills and the deserts of Rajasthan that gave the vehicle its name.

Coverage includes facelifts, special editions, new colors, pricing, off-road tests, owner stories, comparisons with the Jimny and Gurkha, and the sales figures that show how a niche four-by-four became a mainstream Indian favorite. News from the rest of Mahindra's SUV family often rides along. The open questions are whether an electric Thar reaches production, how the three-door evolves now that the Roxx carries the family duties, and how Mahindra fends off the Jimny and the next wave of rugged compact SUVs aimed at the same weekend adventurers.