Meet Akash Minda, Man Who Brought Home India’s 1st Mahindra Thar Roxx After Winning Charity Auction
Mahindra has just delivered the first Thar Roxx (VIN No: 001), which was auctioned off for a whopping 1.31 Crores. The digital auction happened on the CarandBike website, owned by Mahindra, between September 15 and 16. It saw 20 active bidders and had 10980 registrations. Now, Mahindra has announced the winning bid. It is by Akash Minda, Executive Director of Spark Minda, who has brought home the VIN 001 ROXX. The proceeds of this auction will be donated to the Naandi Foundation – a NGO. Mahindra has also announced that they will donate a sum that equals the winning bid. That makes it a total of 2.62 Crores for the Naandi Foundation.
The auction had a reserve price of Rs 25 lakh. The top-spec 4WD variant has an ex-showroom price of 22.49 lakh. The reserve was thus about 2.5 lakh more than this. The bidding crossed the 1 Cr mark within 24 hours. It ended at 7 pm on September 16.
Interestingly, Akash Minda had previously bought the VIN 001 Thar 3-door for a whopping 1.11 Cr. It had the Copper paint on it and the proceeds of that auction too were donated to meaningful causes.
VIN 001 Thar Roxx
The winning bidder’s ROXX is finished in the Nebula Blue colour. In addition to the regular stuff, it also gets the cherished ‘VIN 001’ badge and an exclusive badge signed by Anand Mahindra himself. Akash got his Roxx delivered by Manjari Upadhye, CMO of Mahindra Automotive.
Thar ROXX Waiting Time And Regular Deliveries
Mahindra opened bookings for the Roxx on October 3, 2024, and within 60 minutes, over 1.76 lakh units were sold. Mahindra had previously stated that they would have sufficient stocks available when deliveries begin. Though they refrained from giving a number, it could be around 30,000-35,000. The booking count is still miles above this. Thus waiting period of the Roxx could soar.
Even if Mahindra already has 30,000 ready-to-dispatch units, the monthly production capacity of the Nashik facility is just 6,500 units of Roxx. Combining these numbers, we assume the waiting spans to soon go above a year or even touch two. These could vary slightly with region, variant and dealer as well.
The deliveries will begin during Dussehra. Mahindra says they would ensure a hassle-free delivery process. Soon after the start of dispatches, executives will start contacting patrons with tentative delivery timelines.
Thar Roxx: A Quick Overview
The Thar Roxx comes in 18 different variants, spread across 6 trims. Buyers can choose from seven exterior colour options: Stealth Black, Tango Red, Everest White, Deep Forest, Nebula Blue, Battleship Grey, and Burnt Sienna. Four-wheel-drive (4WD) is only available on the MX5, AX5L, and AX7L trims. For the 4×4 variants, the interior colour schemes include Ivory and Mocha.
The base petrol variant of the Thar Roxx is priced at ₹12.99 lakh, while the diesels begin at ₹13.99 lakh. The top-of-the-line 4WD variant has a price of 22.49 lakh (all prices ex-showroom).
Key exterior highlights of the Thar Roxx are a 6-pack grille, new wheels, LED daytime running lights (DRLs), and pillar-mounted rear door handles. Inside, it offers a spacious cabin along with an extensive array of equipment. It comes with a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system, digital driver display, wireless charging, automatic climate control, a 9-speaker Harman Kardon audio setup, panoramic sunroof, rear AC vents, and ventilated front seats.
The Roxx is built on Mahindra’s new M-GLYDE platform and shares its engine and transmission options with the Scorpio-N. It gets two engine choices: a 2.2-litre mHawk diesel and a 2.0-litre mStallion turbocharged petrol, both available with manual and automatic transmissions.