Mahindra Marazzo by DC Design: A close look

The Mahindra Marazzo might be primarily of interest to buyers with use for six or seven seats. However, for some more money your Marazzo could be transformed into something a whole lot more luxurious. The ‘DC Designed Marazzo’ is Dilip Chabria-headed DC Design’s take on a luxurious MPV. In the words of the designer, developing a Rs 20-25 lakh car with the ambience of a Rs 1.5 crore car was the “driving force” behind the project.

The ‘DC Designed Marazzo’ was first shown at the Marazzo’s launch in September 2018. The interior package is available at the dealer level, costs about Rs 5.25 lakh and can be equipped to existing versions of the Marazzo too. The job can take anywhere between two to six weeks, and since the luxury package has been developed in collaboration with Mahindra, the car’s manufacturer warranty remains intact.

There is a long list of seat colour and upholstery options to choose from.

So what do you get for your money? Quite a bit, actually, though the centre point of the transformation is the second-row seating. The standard bench/captain chairs have made way for a pair of plush sofa-like recliners that are electrically adjustable. The left side seat, commonly occupied by chauffeur-driven buyers, also gets a retractable footrest, as well as a backrest that can recline 160 degrees. The seat on the right can also recline, just not to the same extent. Between the two seats is a new centre console that houses a touch-panel to controls the seats, lighting and infotainment functions. Android TV-equipped 10.1-inch screens mounted behind the front seats are also part of the package. The centre console also contains a fold-out table and a 7.0-litre refrigerator.

Only the left-hand side second row seat can recline up to 160 degrees and has built-in footrests.

Up front, the entire dashboard is re-trimmed in faux leather and gets wood inserts on the steering wheel, dashboard, centre console, and door pads. The rest of the interior is also re-trimmed in leather, in a colour of your choosing, including all rows of seating, steering wheel and door pads. Even the headliner is re-finished in black, with all the relevant plastic pieces also being made black to keep the design uniform. The third row seats have been re-trimmed too. Other touches around the cabin include grab handles finished in leather and chrome tabs for the retracting blinds in the second row.

Dash has been covered in faux leather and gets wood inserts.

Interestingly, the interior package can be applied to any variant of the Marazzo, which means the broader feature set will be identical to the donor vehicle. Mechanically too, the DC Designed Marazzo is identical to the standard versions of the MPV and comes powered by a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine which produces 123hp and 300Nm of torque. This engine is only offered with a sole 6-speed manual gearbox option.

Prices may vary from dealer-to-dealer.

Would you consider a DC Designed Marazzo as an alternative to like-priced executive sedans? Let us know in the comments section below.