Mahindra and Mahindra's (M&M) much anticipated Verito Vibe Hatchback made its India debut on Wednesday with price tag starting at ₹5.63 lakh.

The vehicle, which looks like the revamped version of M&M's Verito sedan, was launched in three variants - Verito Vibe D2 ,Verito Vibe D4 and Verito Vibe D6. The all new hatchback from India's largest utility vehicle manufacturer is powered by a 1.5 litre Renault K9K diesel engine which churns out 65PS pf power and peak torque of 160Nm. Currently, the car is launched only with a diesel engine and will be an upper B segment vehicle.

"Verito Vibe gives us the opportunity to play in the large and highly competitive compact car segment," said Pravin Shah, head of Mahindra's automotive division.

The top-end model of Verito Vibe comes with safety features like ABS+EBD, dual front airbags, computerized driver information system and electrically adjustable ORVMs. The other features of the model include aircon, cabin heater, front door map pockets and 2 DIN music system.

With the launch of Verito Vibe hatchback, M&M forayed into a new segment and hopes to be a success. The company's entry in the small car segment comes at a time when competition in the SUV market is getting stiff with the upcoming launches from Ford and Nissan.

"Mahindra will continue to lose market share in the overall passenger vehicle industry, because of lack of new launches (by Mahindra) in the SUV segment and an extremely competitive environment thanks to launches by their competitors," said Yaresh Kothari, an auto analyst with Mumbai-based Angel Broking, reported Reuters.

The newly launched Verito Vibe is priced as follows:

Verito Vibe D2 - ₹5.63 lakh

Verito Vibe D4 - ₹5.89 lakh

Verito Vibe D6  - ₹6.49 lakh