Mahindra Thar ROXX Fined For Speeding Even Before Official Launch? Here’s What Really Happened

15th August 2024 is a hugely anticipated day for car enthusiasts around India as the Mahindra Thar ROXX 5 door 4X4 SUV will finally be launched. Even before launch though, the Thar ROXX has managed to get into a controversy of sorts.

An eagle-eyed Thar fan Khubaib Showkat, just posted a 1000 rupee speeding ticket issued to a Mahindra Thar with the number MH-01-EF-6697, for doing 75 Kmph in a 60 Kmph zone.

The speeding ticket was issued by the Jaipur Traffic Police on the 9th of July 202, and the captured image shows a red coloured Thar. The speeding ticket also indicates that the owner of the speeding Thar is Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

But where is the Thar ROXX connection here?

Well, it’s in the number. Mahindra has used the same number MH-01-EF-6697 on promo material in the run up to launch. Here, take a look for yourself.

Since Mahindra has used this number on both the Thar fined for speeding in Rajasthan, and also on the Thar ROXX’s teasers, the guy who posted the speeding ticket has come to a conclusion that the Thar ROXX was actually speeding.

What could have happened?

Well, on first glance, this seems quite plausible. However, car makers including Mahindra use random car numbers on the cars that appear on their marketing material, and this case seems to fall in that category.

It’s a bit of a stretch to assume that the Thar ROXX would have been speeding based on just the challan issued. We’re saying this because the Thar in the marketing material using the same registration number is black in colour while the one photographed speeding is red in colour.

Moreover, careful analysis of the speeding ticket reveals that the challanedThar’s VIN number’s 10th character is N. N means the year of manufacture is 2022. Clearly, production of the Thar ROXX wouldn’t have started two years ago, would it?

With this, it’s more or less clear. The Thar that has been fined for speeding in Jaipur is a 3 door, red coloured model, and the only connection between it and the upcoming, 5-door Thar ROXX is the common number that they share.

So, the next time Mahindra decides to photoshop a random number from their company’s fleet cars to an upcoming car, they know what kind of controversy they could land into. But like they say, all publicity is good publicity.

Thar ROXX 5 Door launches on 15th August

The Thar ROXX promises a lot more than just a five door layout. It will get a hard top, a panoramic sunroof and a chassis that is one generation ahead of that on the Scorpio-N. There will be more power and torque made from the 2 liter mFalcon turbo petrol and mHawk turbo diesel engines.

Safety will get a significant boost with Level 2 ADAS. There will be cut price, two wheel drive variants on both the petrol and diesel models, even with manual gearboxes. The two wheel drive models will get automatic gearboxes as well. The four wheel drive versions will be offered with both manual and automatic gearbox options. Needless to say, the ROXX promises an exciting new chapter for the Thar brand.