Kushaq

Overview

The Kushaq drives like a car that was engineered before it was packaged. The MQB-A0-IN platform under it is the same architecture logic the Europeans use, the 1.0-litre TSI makes 115 bhp and puts its 175 Nm on the table from 1750 rpm and keeps them there, and the doors close with the specific thud that has become this marque’s entire marketing argument. In a segment full of cars designed around cost, the Kushaq is designed around structure.

That shows in the list rather than the brochure. Six airbags and electronic stability control are standard from the entry variant, all four corners get disc brakes where most rivals stop at three, and the five-star GNCAP adult score is the sort of number that justifies the price premium over the Korean and Japanese alternatives on pure risk-management grounds. The 175 Nm plateau makes the little three-cylinder feel two engine sizes bigger around town and honest on a ghat road, and at 130 the car sits flat and quiet in a way that makes the segment’s tall hatchback-derived rivals feel temporary.

The accountancy catches up eventually. Boot space, at 340 litres, is the smallest among the SUVs in this listing; the automatic is a conventional torque converter rather than the dual-clutch of fond memory, and slower as a result; and the cabin, while solid, is trimmed more like a tool than a lounge, with equipment ladders that push a well-optioned car past ₹17 lakh. None of that changes what the Kushaq actually is: the most grown-up drive in the compact SUV class, and the one you buy after the spec-sheet shopping is over.

• 1.0 TSI: 115 bhp, 175 Nm from 1750 rpm
• Five-star GNCAP adult with six airbags standard
• All-wheel disc brakes across the range