MG names SUV for India: MG Hector

Many of us neither heard or spoken ever, about the MG marquee. It has never come to India and only those in automotive circles know, MG Rover. MG was brought in its time of need by the Chinese company, SAIC. The company is known for making products on the GM and Volkswagen platforms it has got licenses for. Rover was Land Rover which was brought by Ford before being sold to Tata. Since then we haven’t heard much about MG until last year when the company decided to use the Halol plant in Gujarat as its base. Now the company has finally and officially named the first SUV that it is building for India and making in India. The car will be called the MG Hector.

On our visit to China last year, we got a chance to get reacquainted with MG Motors and get acquainted with the parent company SAIC. We learned that the company’s first product which is going to launch in India in the second half of next year will be an SUV larger than the likes of Jeep Compass and Hyundai Tucson. However, we expect the pricing to be below this segment, making the MG SUV a market breaking product and something other manufacturers will take notice of.

The car will be made in India at the Halol plant in Gujarat. The Hector will also be the first MG India SUV. We have also got some new spy shots of the car, do scroll down for more.

MG Hector Launch

MG will launch this product in India next year, around April. The vehicle will be made in the MG’s Halol plant. As we have known the Bajoun SUV has been spotted testing in India many times now. This will the first product to be launched in India by MG. MG will be then launching a product every year in India.

MG Hector Price

So the diesel motor that will be used in the MG Hector will be the Fiat units used in the Jeep Compass. The size of the car will be close to that of the Hyundai Tuscon and the Honda CRV. These attributes paired with a strong pricing strategy will make the MG brand unstoppable. The car is looking to slot itself in the Rs 10 lakhs to Rs 16 lakhs price range. This price range will be a very strong and competitive price segment to get into.

MG Hector Interior and Design

The interior first! This is where as seen above we have come across some spy shots of the front row of the cars being tested under camouflage. The car looks like it’s borrowing details like the air vents, instrument cluster, door handles and the handbrake lever from it’s SAIC cousins the MG Baojun 530 and the Roewe RX5. The car will get a sunroof, ambient lighting, a digital instrument console and features like lane assist, park assist and 6 airbags for safety. The front driver seat will be electrically adjustable too. Its exterior styling will be very close to the Baojun 530 and will have many design element s from other SAIC products. There is some speculation that the MG Hector will actually be based on the Chevrolet Captiva. The most interesting part of the spy shots(scroll below) is the Hector’s big Tesla like touchscreen and it looks like the car will get a manual gearbox option in India.

The car will also get a DRLs which will turn into turn signals like the Harrier. The below image shows us how this DRL will be an individual unit, separate from the main headlight cluster.

Also Read: Tata Harrier will be the bigger than XUV500 and Jeep Compass

 MG Hector Specifications

The premium car that will be the MG Hector is expected to be powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a 2.0-litre turbo diesel. Both engines will be sourced from Fiat. The Jeep Compass’ diesel motor will do duty on the MG SUV too. The top-end variants are expected to be equipped with automatic transmission and AWD capability. The cars will come with 7 speed automatic and a manual version too. Recently a bunch of MG SUV’s have been spotted along with a Hyundai Tucson.This shows that the Chinese automaker is benchmarking its first Indian product against the premium Hyundai offering. MG Motor India MD, Mr. Rajeev Chaba has revealed that the SUV is a mid-sized C segment SUV. It is not a Hyundai Creta or Jeep Compass rival in any way, but a much bigger and a more premium offering.

MG Hector Spy Shots

Above we can see spy shots of the interior of the car and the car being tested in the demanding high altitude regions of Himachal Pradesh.

Also Read: MG SUV that will be first in India?

MG Hector Videos

MG Hector Competition

The car will compete with the upcoming Kia SP and the Tata Harrier in terms of size and pricing. Size could be even bigger depending on the platform chosen by MG. Many more details will soon paint a clearer picture of the first MG Hector soon.

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