Tata Altroz to Mahindra XUV700: The cars that have been awarded to India’s Olympic athletes

Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra created history by wining Gold medal in men's javelin throw at Tokyo Olympic 2020 (Photo credit: Reuters)

In an effort to recognise the value of their contributions, several carmakers in India have rewarded India’s Olympic and Paralympics contingent with cars, in addition to the rewards being bestowed upon said athletes via private organisations and central and state governments. India’s combined medal count for Olympians and Paralympians currently includes 7 Olympic medals (including one gold, two silvers and four bronze medals) and 17 Paralympics medals. Here’s hoping more automotive brands step up with suitable rewards. For the moment, however, it’s these brands leading the way.

Mahindra & Mahindra

At the forefront of this effort is Mahindra & Mahindra, with Chairman Anand Mahindra having been an ardent and vocal supporter of India’s athletes from the moment the Olympics kicked off. Amid all the excitement caused by Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic gold win, Mahindra was quick to announce that a special edition of the newly launched, flagship SUV – Mahindra XUV700 – will be given to the Olympic gold medalist.

Mahindra has gone one step further by announcing that it will be building three special XUV700 “Javelin Edition” models to be gifted to Neeraj Chopra, Avani Lekhara (the first Indian woman to win a gold at the Paralympics)  and Sumit Antil, all of whom secured a gold medal for India, at the Olympics. A jubilant Anand Mahindra took to Twitter to confirm that the models will be designed by Pratap Bose and sent to the three athletes. While we still await more details about the cosmetic tweaks these special editions will receive, Mahindra has announced that it will commence custom-fitting XUV700s especially for the physically disabled and that the two of such modified vehicles will go to Lekhara and Antil. According to Carandbike.com, the modifications will include better ingress-egress for the specially-abled.

Tata Motors

Acknowledging the fact that the very act of qualifying for the Olympics is a laudable effort, Tata Motors has chosen to felicitate athletes who missed out on winning medals at the Olympics. As such, Tata has awarded the Tata Altroz to 24 athletes. Altroz – a premium hatchback with a five-star safety rating – has an ex-showroom price that goes all the way up to Rs 9.59 lakh. The special-editions prepared for the athletes get a top-end, ‘High Street Gold’ colour finish, something the president of the brand’s Passenger Vehicle Business described as the gold standard in premium hatchbacks. The comparatively higher number of cars rewarded can be attributed to the fact that Tata chose to acknowledge the efforts not only of individual sporting events, but also team sports, having gifted the car to the Indian Women’s hockey team among others.

In addition to this, Tata presented each team member of the Indian wrestling team at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a Tata Yodha - a barebones pick-up truck made by the brand.

Renault

Not one to be left behind, Renault also stepped in to reward Indian wrestlers Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia with brand spanking new models of their latest car – the Renault Kiger SUV. Dahiya won a silver while Punia won a bronze for India at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. In addition to this, Renault gifted a Kiger to weightlifter  Mirabai Chanu who won a silver medal for India in Women’s 49 kg category.

The Kiger is an all-new crossover SUV, by Renault, with prices starting at Rs 5.64 lakh (ex-showroom) and going all the way up to Rs 10.09 lakh for the turbocharged variant. Having received a substantial amount of bookings for the same, Renault is currently delivering the Kiger after a waiting period of six to eight weeks to customers.

MG Motors

MG Motors, whose upcoming product the MG Astor is scheduled for launch this month, has also announced a “brand new MG SUV” for Bhavina Patel – the first Indian Paralympian to bring home a medal in table tennis. MG’s offering was confirmed by Rajeev Chaba, President & MD of MG Motor India, who tweeted “It would be an honour and privilege to gift an MG car to Bhavinaben on her return”. It’s noteworthy that Patel hails from the state of Gujarat, where MG Motors manufacturing plant happens to be based.

Chaba also confirmed that the car, suspected to be the upcoming Astor, will be retrofitted to be handicap accessible stating that the brand “will explore the right attachments”. MG has gone one step further in commemorating the efforts of paralympians in sport. For it’s upcoming model, the MG Astor, MG has announced that the voice behind its new personal AI assistant will be that of Paralympic athlete and Khel Ratna awarded Deepa Malik.