Mahindra XUV3XO vs Xpeng G6

What's the difference?

So, what do we make of the Mahindra XUV 3X0?

After our first taster in India, we are pleased with its presentation inside and out, packaging, quality and equipment levels.

And while driving around a brand’s own proving ground cannot give a true indication of how a vehicle performs, steers, handles, rides and stops, our initial impression is that this is an easy, confident, responsive, agile and comfortable small SUV from behind the wheel. More or less.

Of course, not knowing pricing limits a definitive verdict, but the 3XO looks promising, and we’re keen to drive it on Australian roads very soon, so watch this space.

Better still, it is obvious that Mahindra is serious about cracking Australia’s small SUV market, since the 3XO ticks so many of the essential boxes.

In the face of largely cheap yet disappointing rivals out there, that’s a very good thing.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

You never know quite what to expect when you jump into the first model from a brand-new brand, but the XPeng G6 was a pleasant surprise. And at this price, with these features, it should really give Tesla Model Y shoppers something to think about.

The 3XO is not quite as new as it looks.

Although only on sale in India since last year, the newcomer is actually based on the decade-old SsangYong Tivoli, which was the first model under Mahindra’s brief ownership of the Korean brand (now under KGM control since 2023).

And, if you’ve visited India lately, you might have seen a substantially modified Mahindra version of the Tivoli, badged XUV300 and sold for five years there from 2019, and the actual basis for the 3XO.

Now, Mahindra says that the latter is around 80 per cent new, with fresh sheetmetal clothing the bones of its predecessor(s). And they’re quite contemporary threads, with crisp surfacing, striking LED lighting, clean grille finishes and a pert rear-end design.

Subaru would be proud of the squared-off wheel arches, lofty 201mm ground clearance and sub-four-metre length, while the latter helps keep the small SUV inside an Indian tax bracket. Fun fact: that’s why the old Ford EcoSport, also from Chennai, needed its spare wheel mounted on the tailgate.

The 3XO's length/width/height/wheelbase of 3990mm/1821mm/1647mm/2600mm respectively, puts the 3XO on the stubbier side of the crossover brigade. Yet with more clearances than almost all alternatives. This is crying out for a rugged 4x4 ‘Outback’ treatment.

Overall, then, the smallest of Mahindras is an effectively chunky update, with a height and stance to handle the rough and tumble of urban driving.

There’s more than a little Tesla Model Y in the XPeng’s exterior design, with the two sharing the same kind of soft-edged, swept-back SUV styling. 

It helps make the XPeng look familiar and inoffensive, and while I wouldn’t go so far as to call it ground-breaking, I think it has enough exterior flourishes to break up the body work, and I don’t mind the way it looks, and the way it sits on those big alloys.

Inside, it’s a spacious and pretty stylish space. This giant screen is super responsive, and is easy enough to navigate, with the key functions (like climate) glued to the bottom of the screen so you don't have to paw through menus to access them. The idea begins to fail when you have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto active, though, as you have to revert back to the car's home screen to access anything.

The XPeng uses its steering wheel controls to access air-con fan and temp controls as a kind of shortcut, but confusingly they change to distance adjustment when you’ve got the cruise control on. An easier, and much better solution would be to bring back buttons.

I also don't love the stalk-style gear selector, which doubles as a cruise control activator, and, with a double pull, as your autonomous helper. It just feels super old-school in a vehicle this modern.

What is a massive win though is the driver screen. Tesla fans can scream minimalist aesthetics all they want, but the drive experience is simply better when you can see your speed and other key info right in front of you.

Mahindra reckons that even though the 3XO is only four metres long, it's got the space and the practicality of some 4.7m SUVs.

Which sounds dubious, but first impressions inside reveal ample room for legs, shoulders and heads, even in the sunroof-specced AX7L. Sat high, vision is impressive too, aided by an excellent driving position on nicely-shaped seats, deep glass areas and handy 360-degree camera views.

Based on the old dashboard architecture but with a completely redesigned central touchscreen and electronic instrumentation pod (and both measuring in at 10.2 inches), the effect is modern enough, with a very welcome avoidance of screen-based buttons for actual switches that are incredibly easy to navigate.

In fact, the sheer user-friendliness of the 3XO’s interior is commendable, from the world’s deepest glovebox and chilled centre bin (in the AX7L only) to the various USB ports, cupholders and storage options. The climate control effectiveness is a given if any Indian vehicle is to succeed. And the material fit and finish seemed fine. About the only dislike is the lack of steering-wheel reach adjustment, betraying the Mahindra’s real age.

Moving to the row behind, there’s sufficient space for a pair of 180cm adults, on comfy cushions. Again, vision, storage and all amenities rate highly, with face-level vents especially appreciated at this price point. The 3XO is pitched as a sensible family-car proposition in India so the back-seat area is crucial.

Behind that is the boot, which is fairly large as well, aided by a low floor and a large hatch aperture, while a space-saver spare lurks underneath, so no stupid tyre-repair kit for this sensible small SUV.

There’s also a lot of room under the bonnet…

At 4753mm in length, 1920mm in width and 1650mm in height, the XPeng fits into the fast-growing mid-size electric SUV space. 

And it ticks a lot of practicality boxes, like with its 571-litre boot, swelling to 1374 litres with the seats folded. But its real party trick is in the back seat, where the space is properly massive. 

I have another mid-size SUV, powered by a petrol engine, at the moment and our baby seat presses against the back of the passenger seat. In this it feels like I could fly a kite in the space between them.

It’s the same for passengers, too. Honestly, the real estate on offer is massive, and that includes for the middle-seat rear passenger, where the lack of a bulky tunnel eating into legroom means adults can sit there comfortably.

There's a pull-down divider separating the back seat that's also home to two cupholders, and there are twin USB connections, as well as air vents (though no temp controls).

There's no spare tyre, though, which means fiddling with the repair kit should you get puncture, or waiting for roadside assist.

Okay, first things first – what the hell is XPeng? It's been around for about 10 years in China, but only made its way to Australia last year. It was founded by some former car company execs and tech tycoons — one of whom is telecommunications billionaire He Xiaopeng, which is where that name comes from.

Anyway, this one is the XPeng G6, which launched in Australia with two trims – the Standard Range, which is $54,800, before on-road costs, and the one we’ve tested, the Long Range, which is $59,800. The difference is in the battery size, of course, but we’ll get to that in a minute. 

As of now, the new Model Y can be ordered for $63,400 for the Standard Range or $73,400 for the Long Range, which makes the XPeng a whole heap cheaper.

Outside, you get LED lighting all around (including the DRLs), a massive glass roof, auto door handles, an auto-opening boot, a V2L connection, which allows you to use your XPeng’s battery to power whatever you plug in and big 20-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin rubber.

You also get some cool high-tech features, accessed through the XPeng app, like the ability to drive your car out of tight parking spots remotely.

Inside, there are synthetic-leather seats that are heated, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate, a massive 18-speaker sound system (with speakers in the headrest), wireless charging and two very handy screens — a responsive 15-inch central screen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a 10.2-inch digital dashboard.

There’s also more safety stuff than you can shake a crash test at, but we’ll come back to that in a second.

It might be tiny and a cylinder down compared to almost all of its Asian rivals, but Mahindra’s in-house 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine follows European downsizing convention.

This means it relies on advanced technologies to produce comparatively healthy power and torque outputs, being 82kW at 5000rpm and 200Nm between 1500rpm and 3500rpm respectively.

Coming in at around 1400kg, the result is a power-to-weight ratio of about 59kW per tonne, which is modest against the slightly heavier Tiggo 4’s 76kW/tonne, for instance.

Driving the front wheels is a Toyota-made six-speed torque-converter automatic, so no droney CVTs or laggy dual-clutch transmissions here. But we’re disappointed the six-speed manual gearbox offered elsewhere isn’t even an option in Australia, especially after driving the Mahindra.

This G6 is a rear-wheel drive affair, with a single electric motor housed at the rear axle. It produces 190kW and 440Nm in Standard Range form or 210kW/440Nm in Long Range guise, which don’t sound like massive numbers — especially given the 2.0-tonne-plus weight of this XPeng – but it gets up and moving just fine.

The 100km/h sprint is a claimed 6.2 seconds, while the top speed is 200km/h.

The official Australian combined fuel consumption average is 6.5 litres per 100km, which translates to 137g/km of carbon dioxide emissions. With a 42L tank, should equate to about 640km per refill.

Urban and Extra Urban numbers are 7.6L/100km and 5.9L/100km respectively.  

Just keep in mind that the 3XO is recommended to drink from the 95 RON premium unleaded petrol bowser.

The Long Range version of the G6 nabs a 87.5kWh battery (compared to 66kWh in the Standard Range), unlocking a claimed driving range of 570km. 

The official power use figure is 17.5kWh/100km, but I did a fair bit of driving on all sorts of roads and my number was more like 14kWh.

When it does come time to charge, the G6 is set up for 280kW DC fast charging which means, should you find the right fast charger, a 10-80 per cent charge should arrive in just 20 minutes. Home charging will take a lot longer, of course – we’re talking overnight plugged into a regular wallbox.

There’s much made about how strong and rigid the 3XO’s platform is, and it’s not just for better crash protection.

Aided by a typical MacPherson-style strut front and twist-beam rear suspension set-up, Mahindra reckons it has dialled in just the right amount of dynamic finesse to make this small SUV the keen driver’s choice.

To find out if that’s the case, we spent a couple of hours behind the wheel of one at Mahindra’s vast proving ground near Chennai. A 180km/h high-speed loop. A set of chicanes. And a few rough surfaces where we could find them. Just a taster, really.

The overall impression is that nothing betrays the 3XO’s ageing platform from behind the wheel.

Torquey and smooth, the 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine is punchy off the line, possessing a sporty, peppy nature as well as an endearing willingness. Adding to this is the six-speed auto, as it’s also pleasingly responsive, with no lag or jolts. This is how small turbos should behave.

We managed to max it out at almost 170km/h (indicated) on the speed bowl, where it felt dead-set stable and secure. Impressive, given the 3XO’s height and ground clearance.

But the steering seems too light and a little disconnected during low-speed manoeuvres, at least for keener drivers, but once velocities climb, it seems to weigh up with sufficient heft. This is reminiscent of the way that Volkswagens used to tune its steering some 25 years ago. Maybe that’s the biggest sign of the Tivoli’s bones lurking underneath.

What this means is that the Mahindra is not the sort of SUV you buy if you absolutely relish driving, in the way the Mazda CX-3 or the very sadly-missed Ford Puma are. Hopefully, we’ll be pleasantly surprised on Australian roads.

We never got a chance to test the suspension’s ride quality, but over the couple of bumps that we did traverse, it seemed to soak them up well enough. And even though our test 3XO lacked the (optional) rear parcel shelf, road and tyre noise seemed sufficiently contained. Again, Australian roads will reveal all.

What we can say with some confidence is that the little Mahindra is a lively, user-friendly, comfort-biased and civilised small SUV. No glaring faults or anomalies appeared, just a cheerful, charming character.

For what it represents, the 3XO seems properly engineered and tuned.

Perhaps all those years ironing out the bugs in the preceding XUV300 and Tivoli are paying dividends for today’s buyers.

We weren’t expecting that.

How much you love your time behind the wheel of the XPeng G6 comes down to what you're looking for from your mid-size electric SUV.

Speed and sportiness? There's not much of either. But it does serve up tons of space and technology, surprising refinement and a calm and cosseting ride.

And I think you can mount a pretty solid argument that all of that is pretty important in a mid-size SUV, more so than the ability to carve corners.

I did some solid driving in the G6, including a round trip from Sydney to the start of the NSW South Coast, taking in every road type and surface imaginable, and XPeng proved super comfy, pretty quiet and very, very easy the entire time.

Sure, it's not one of those EVs that makes the scenery blur when you put your foot down. Its outputs and acceleration are a bit more user-friendly than that. But it also doesn't ever feel underpowered, with the plenty of poke away from the lights and even some in reserve for freeway overtakes at 110km/h.

The steering, even in its 'Dynamic' mode, is fairly soft, and you can never magic away the weight of the XPeng in corners, where that compliant suspension does allow for some roll, but it also doesn't feel entirely disconnected from the road below in that disconcerting way some vehicles can.

So, if comfort is mission critical in your SUV space, the XPeng delivers.

Oh, and I know that big screens aren't that uncommon these days, but the multimedia unit in the XPeng is a treat. It's super fast, even when scrolling across maps, and it's relatively user friendly, too.

The XPeng G6 wears a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from assessment in 2024, owing mostly to a flood of active safety features that arrive as standard, including AEB (with pedestrian, backover, cyclist, motorcycle and crossing detection), lane departure warning, lane keep assist, speed sign recognition, driver monitoring and more.

But it could also lay claim to a unique record – the first Chinese EV in which the safety systems don't make you want to make you pull your hair out with their incessant chiming and bonging.

Only on the freeway, where an intermittent chiming incorrectly warned me I was leaving my lane, were the safety systems at all overzealous. Otherwise, they were entirely liveable.

If a crash is unavoidable, the airbag count runs to seven (dual front, front side, side curtain and front centre) and multi-collision brake is standard, to minimise the chances of a secondary crash following an initial impact.

Mahindra offers a seven-year warranty with roadside assistance, and that is excellent news for most buyers. But the 150,000km cap when most other brands have unlimited mileage might fall a bit short for some prospective buyers’ requirements.

At the time of publishing, no service scheduling and capped-price servicing pricing information was available, but expect these to be announced after early July 2025.

I'm scoring the regular warranty offering here, which is five years or 120,000km, with the battery covered for eight years or 160,000km. Keep an eye out for deals, though. At the time of writing XPeng was offering a 10-year warranty on both, for example.

Service intervals are 12 months or 20,000km. The cheapest individual service is $238, but over five years the total cost is $2064, averaging out to more like $410 per year.