The rivalry between Tata Safari and Mahindra Scorpio is one of the oldest rivalries in Indian automobile history.

The first generation Tata Safari was launched in 1998, 4 years before the launch of Mahindra Scorpio. While this gave Tata Motors 4 years to strengthen the Tata Safari's foundation in the Indian automobile market, Mahindra took this time to study its main rival.

When Tata Safari was launched in the year 1998, the 7-seater SUV was not only the most imposing SUV on the road, but it also came with a long list of features. As a result, Tata Safari soon established itself in the Indian automobile market.

Speaking about the first-gen Mahindra Scorpio, the model had been a game-changer for the Indian automaker in numerous ways. The Mahindra Scorpio was launched in 2002 and quickly became a hit among enthusiasts for its punchy performance and mile-munching abilities.

Though Mahindra always had an upper hand in terms of sales volume, the Tata Safari had a stronger fan base. However, in 2019, Tata Motors finally pulled the plug on the Tata Safari SUV, bringing the age-old rivalry to an end.

Thanks to solid sales figures, Mahindra continued the production of the Scorpio with a few updates.

In 2021, Tata re-introduced the 'Safari' nameplate on a 7-seater mid-size SUV based on the Tata Harrier platform. This new SUV is essentially a 7-seater version of the Tata Harrier and hence features monocoque chassis and a front-wheel-drive layout.

Though the off-road routes have been trimmed, the new SUV looks very bold and masculine, especially from the rear. Thanks to this modern setup, the new Tata Safari no longer competed against Mahindra Scorpio and the new Safari gained decent traction in the Indian automobile market.

However, while Tata Motors was developing the 7-seater variant of the Tata Harrier, Mahindra was not only selling the Scorpio, they were in fact developing the next-generation Scorpio alongside the recently launched XUV700.

Now, Mahindra has launched the all-new Scorpio N SUV and the once-forgotten rivalry has been ignited again.

Let's start by comparing the sizes of both SUVs. The new Tata Safari is 4,661mm long, 1,894mm wide, 1,786mm tall and sports a wheelbase of 2,741mm - A big SUV indeed. In comparison, the new Mahindra Scorpio N dwarfs the Safai as it is 1mm longer, 23mm wider,71mm taller, and sports a 9mm longer wheelbase.

In terms of powertrain, the Tata Safari comes with just one diesel engine, whereas Mahindra offers one petrol engine and one diesel engine.

The 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel engine puts out a respectable 167.7bhp of peak power and 350Nm of peak torque. This engine can also be specified with either a 6-speed manual or automatic gearbox options.

The Mahindra Scorpio N on the other hand puts out 172bhp of peak power from its slightly bigger 2.2-litre unit. However, the company has not revealed torque output but this engine in the XUV700 puts out 400Nm of torque in the automatic gearbox variant and 370Nm of torque in the manual gearbox variant.

The petrol unit is a 2.0-litre turbocharged unit with 200bhp of peak power and 380Nm of peak torque. In addition to that, the Mahindra Scorpio N also comes with an optional 4WD set-up with rear diff-locks for better off-road ability.

While the Tata Safari is a very good SUV, the new Mahindra Scorpio N seems to have an upper hand with its powertrain options, size and the optional 4WD system.