Skoda Yeti vs Renault Duster vs Mahindra XUV500

Soft-roaders aren't exactly a new phenomenon. And we Indians love them big and brawny. Whether there's substance to all that show is a different thing altogether. As long as there's street-cred, we're a happy bunch. And this market is bursting at its seams. Look around; see how many pseudo off-roaders are doing the school run every morning, and you'll know we aren't kidding.

Now if your noodle is in place – and there's no reason why it shouldn't be – you'd be a bit daft as a manufacturer to not want a piece of the soft-roader pie. The latest entrant to this party is the Renault Duster and it's given us a great excuse to  gather its rivals – the Mahindra XUV 500 and the Skoda Yeti for a bit of a stand-off.

We were quite impressed with the Duster the last time around, but with the Yeti and the overbooked XUV 500 being quite the able sport utilities in their own right, we figured it was time to pitch them together to see which one of these softies really deserves school-run duty.