Force Motors has christened its upcoming SUV as Force “One” and has confirmed that the SUV will be launched within a month's time. Force Motors has also revealed a new logo for its passenger vehicle division.
The company hasn't officially revealed the pictures of the SUV, but as seen from the spy pictures, the Force One’s boxy shape isn’t at all appealing and falls far short of the styling standards we have come to expect.
The body-on-frame chassis is made of robust ‘C-in-C’ construction and suspended with coil springs in the rear and a torsion bar set-up in the front. However, at the heart of this vehicle is the Mercedes OM 611 which develops 140bhp and 35kgm of torque via a five-speed manual transmission.
This 2.2-litre common-rail turbo-diesel is the same unit that powered the W210 E-class when it was first launched in 2000; though this engine is now a generation old, it still meets the latest Bharat Stage IV norms and promises better performance and refinement than homegrown engines from Mahindra and Tata.
Although this engine will be made under license from Mercedes by Force Motors for its SUV, it’s unclear if the German company will allow its brand name to be used on the vehicle. At the time of the launch, the company will only offer a two-wheel version of the SUV to keep the costs down. Approximately a year later, the SUV will be offered as a four-wheel drive option. The SUV will be launched with a price tag ranging from Rs 10-12 lakh.
According to Force Motors, the SUV will be positioned between the Mahindra Scorpio and Ford Endeavour, there are also plans to launch a new MPV in 2012, this will be a premium product and will be a little bigger in size than the Innova. The company also plans to replace the soon-to-be-launched SUV by an all-new next-generation SUV in 2013.