Mahindra Thar, often known as the Desi Wrangler, has entirely rejuvenated India's lifestyle off-road vehicle segment. When it was first introduced, the new generation of Thar showed India how desirable an off-roader can be. Because, prior to its introduction, India had the Thar, Gurkha, and Gypsy. These were capable SUVs, as they won many honours and off-road contests. However, they lacked current technology and safety measures.
By 2020, Mahindra had released a fully-loaded Thar with all current features and a 4-star safety rating from Global NCAP. As a result, Thar was in high demand. The earlier Thar never came close to matching the modern Thar's sales and demand. Mahindra now has 40-50k pending orders for the new Thar. This massive demand comes when parts are scarce and raw materials and transportation costs are skyrocketing.
To combat this, several manufacturers have had to restrict the number of features, which aids in cost-cutting. Mahindra has also revised the 2022 Thar feature list. The black bumpers are the most noticeable and clear at first glance. Thar once had a distinctive silver shade on its front and back bumpers in the centre. The whole bumper, both front and back, is now unpainted. This reduces Mahindra's costs while also saving them valuable production time and labour.
Mahindra had partnered with CEAT at the time of launch to provide Thar with Czar AT (All-Terrain) tyres. Mahindra changed the tyres to MRF Wanderer AT tyres a few weeks after launch. The Thar has replaced the tyres once more with Ceat CrossDrive AT tyres for the new 2022 Thar batches that have arrived in dealer showrooms.
The inside of the 2022 Mahindra Thar, now only has one front-facing USB charger, as opposed to two previously. Another removed feature is the lumbar support adjustment knob for the front seats. These features aren't a deal-breaker or detract the owner from the overall experience, but still, the value-for-money preposition has reduced a little bit.
