Aside from all the buzz the all-new Mahindra Thar has created ahead of its October 2nd launch, Mahindra is also auctioning a Thar for charity, with proceeds going to the highest bidder's choice of charitable organisations supporting COVID-19 relief work. The Thar that's up for auction will be the Mahindra Thar #1, the first-ever production Thar and there's plenty of '#1' badges to show for it, including on the dashboard plaque, while the owner's initials will be featured on the badges around the car. The winning bidder will get to choose from all five variants and six colour options that the new Thar is available in - we'd pick the Thar petrol auto with a hardtop, in red. Mahindra will even match the winning bid amount, and the entire amount will be transferred to the winner's choice of charity, with the options being the Naandi Foundation, which is working to create sustainable livelihoods for farmers in the post-COVID-19 world, Swades Foundation, which is helping rebuild rural livelihoods, or the PM Cares Fund.
With the auction having gone live today, you can follow the auction's progress here up to its conclusion at 6:00PM on September 29th. Even better, if you want to join in on the action and become the lucky owner of the first-ever production Mahindra Thar, while contributing to the important work being done towards helping the less fortunate in our country recover from the widespread aftermath of COVID-19, head to the website, register and place your bids here. You can follow the bidding progress below.
And the clock's run down on the auction! The winning bid for the Mahindra Thar #1 clocks in at a whopping Rs 1.11 crore. Congratulations to the lucky bidder, and as stated, Mahindra will match the winning bid amount, with the entire proceeds going to a charity of the bidder's choice.
Unbelievably, bidding is now over Rs 1 crore, at Rs 1,04,75,000 currently! A little under two hours remains for the end of the auction and the winning bid to be announced.
In a massive update, bidding has reached a very impressive Rs 1 crore, from a bidder in New Delhi! Now, there's just hours to go before the auction closes at 6:00PM this evening.
With 20 hours to go, bidding on the special first-ever production Mahindra Thar has reached an all-time high of Rs 92.25 lakh, with all the proceeds going to charity.
Total registrations have climbed to 4,223 and the bidding for the Mahindra Thar #1 is up to Rs 83.75 lakh, with the current top bid coming from Pathanamthitta, Kerala.
On the second day of bidding, the auction has crossed over the Rs 80 lakh mark, and the current top bid of Rs 83.5 lakh comes from Medinipur (Midnapore) in West Bengal. At this rate, the auction certainly looks set to cross well over a crore of rupees!
On Day 1 of the auction, the site has so far had over 3,500 registrations in total, across 33 different cities, with nearly 800 registrations coming in today. A total of 142 bids, from 38 unique bidders, has brought the bidding to the current highest bid of Rs 79.75 lakh!
The latest bid for the Mahindra Thar #1 for charity stands at Rs 76 lakh. Bids are in Rs 25,000 increments, as seen.
Halfway through the first day of the auction for the Mahindra Thar #1, bidding has reached over Rs 73 lakh!
Bidding began at a minimum reserve price of Rs 25 lakh for the Mahindra Thar#1. Mahindra, of course, will match the winning bid and the proceeds go to charity.
To be able to bid, or view the bidding process, you will need to put down a cautionary security deposit, which is fully refundable in case you're not the winning bidder. Or you could follow the bidding right here.
While registrations opened for bidding on September 19th, you can still register and join the bidding now. Follow the link here: https://auto.mahindra.com/events/all-new-thar-auction