Mahindra Thar Could Soon Get Front-facing Rear Seats As Standard

• Only the AX Option and LX variants are equipped with front-facing rear seats with 3-point seatbelts for both passengers.

• Mahindra temporarily halting bookings for the base AX variants provides a good opening to add front-facing rear seats.

• The Mahindra Thar is priced from Rs 9.80 lakh to Rs 13.75 lakh (ex-showroom).

• Prices of the base-spec AX Std and AX likely to go up slightly with the addition of front-facing seats.

Ever since its rating of four out of five stars. Reports suggest this safety rating may make a case for Mahindra to offer front-facing rear seats as standard on all Thar variants.

Speaking about the rating, the Managing Director of Mahindra andamp; Mahindra, Dr. Pawan Goenka, said in a report, "So four star applies to only the front-facing seats and not to side-facing seats and Global NCAP is very strict about ensuring that the four-star rating applies to all the variants of the model. Therefore, they will always test the vehicle that is the least in terms of safety equipment."

Notably, the Mahindra Thar scored the highest COP (Child Occupant Protection) score of all made-in-India cars tested by Global NCAP under its SaferCarsForIndia campaign, at 41.11 out of 49. One of the main reasons for this is the presence of ISOFIX anchor points and three-point seatbelts for all passengers on the variants ( AX Option and LX) with forward-facing rear seats.

Currently, only the base AX variants -- petrol-only AX std and AX -- are equipped with side-facing bench rear seats. Mahindra has also due to the overwhelming demand for the Thar's AX Opt and LX variants. This could be a good opportunity for Mahindra to make front-facing rear seats standard for the base AX trims before they go on sale again.

The Mahindra Thar currently retails from Rs 9.80 lakh to Rs 13.75 lakh (ex-showroom). If Mahindra does decide to make front-facing rear seats standard on all variants, expect the base AX trim's price to go close to the Rs 10 lakh mark. It may not have any rivals at the moment, but it will soon face the upcoming .